Professor Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke: List of publications

Showing 1 to 212 of 212 publications
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Economic history and contemporary challenges to globalization

Journal article
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Journal of Economic History

Economists and the European democratic deficit

Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

The anatomy of a trade collapse: The UK, 1929-33

Journal article
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European Review of Economic History

The Spread of Manufacturing to the Poor Periphery 1870–2007

Journal article
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Open Economies Review

Two Great Trade Collapses: The Interwar Period and Great Recession Compared

Journal article
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IMF Economic Review

When Britain Turned Inward: The Impact of Interwar British Protection

Journal article
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American Economic Review

Growth, Import Dependence, and War

2018
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Scholarly edition
© 2017 Royal Economic Society Theories of war predict that the leader may launch a war on a follower who is catching up, since the follower cannot commit to not use their increased power in the future. But it was Japan who attacked the West in 1941: both leaders and followers start wars. Similarly, many have argued that trade makes war less likely, yet the First World War erupted at a time of unprecedented globalisation. We develop a model of trade and war that can explain both observations. Dependence on imports can lead followers to attack leaders or resource-rich regions when they are subject to blockade.

The anatomy of a trade collapse: The UK, 1929-33

2018
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Journal article
Abstract A recent literature explores the nature and causes of the collapse in international trade during 2008 and 2009. The decline was particularly great for automobiles and industrial supplies; it occurred largely along the intensive margin; quantities fell by more than prices; and prices fell less for differentiated products. Do these stylised facts apply to trade collapses more generally? This paper uses detailed, commodity specific information on UK imports between 1929 and 1933, to see to what extent the trade collapses of the Great Depression and Great Recession resembled each other. It also compares the free trading trade collapse of 1929-31 with the protectionist collapse of 1931-3, to see to what extent protection, and gradual recovery from the Great Depression, mattered for UK trade patterns.
F14, N74, Great Depression, Great Recession, trade, protectionism

The anatomy of a trade collapse: The UK, 1929-33

2018
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Journal article
A recent literature explores the nature and causes of the collapse in international trade during 2008 and 2009. The decline was particularly great for automobiles and industrial supplies; it occurred largely along the intensive margin; quantities fell by more than prices; and prices fell less for differentiated products. Do these stylised facts apply to trade collapses more generally? This paper uses detailed, commodityspecific information on UK imports between 1929 and 1933, to see to what extent the trade collapses of the Great Depression and Great Recession resembled each other. It also compares the free trading trade collapse of 1929-31 with the protectionist collapse of 1931-3, to see to what extent protection, and gradual recovery from the Great Depression, mattered for UK trade patterns.
F14, N70, N74, Great Depression, Great Recession, trade, protectionism

Economics

2017
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

Independent Ireland in Comparative Perspective

2017
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Journal article
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Irish Economic and Social History

Two Great Trade Collapses: The Interwar Period & Great Recession Compared

2017
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Journal article
Preliminary version of a paper prepared for IMF-BNM-IMFER Conference on Globalization in the Aftermath of the Crisis and the IMF Economic Review. The research on which this paper is based was in part funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement no. 249546. The paper draws on many collaborations, and I am extremely grateful to my co-authors: Miguel Almunia, Agustin Bénétrix, Roberto Bonfatti, Alan de Bromhead, Barry Eichengreen, Alan Fernihough, Ronald Findlay, William Hynes, David Jacks, Markus Lampe, Gisela Rua, and Jeffrey Williamson. The usual disclaimer applies.

Growth, import dependence, and war

2017
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Journal article
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Economic Journal

Measuring the Spread of Modern Manufacturing to the Poor Periphery

2017
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Chapter
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The Spread of Modern Industry to the Periphery Since 1871
This volume fills this gap by providing a systematic, comparative, historical account of the spread of modern manufacturing beyond its traditional heartland, to Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, ...
Business & Economics

Independent Ireland In Comparative Perspective

2017
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Scholarly edition
This paper surveys independent Ireland’s economic policies and performance. It has three main messages. First, the economic history of post-independence Ireland was not particularly unusual. Very often, things that were happening in Ireland were happening elsewhere as well. Second, for a long time we were hampered by an excessive dependence on a poorly performing UK economy. And third, EC membership in 1973, and the Single Market programme of the late 1980s and early 1990s, were absolutely crucial for us. Irish independence and EU membership have complemented each other, rather than being in conflict: each was required to give full effect to the other. Irish independence would not have worked as well for us as it did without the EU; and the EU would not have worked as well for us as it did without political independence. X-Classification-JEL: X-Keywords:

Concorrenza e crescita nella storia Europea

2017
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Chapter
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Concorrenza, mercato e crescita in Italia: il lungo periodo
Business & Economics

The Spread of Modern Industry to the Periphery since 1871

2017
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Book
Ever since the Industrial Revolution of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, industrialization has been the key to modern economic growth. The fact that modern industry originated in Britain, and spread initially to north-western Europe and North America, implied a dramatic divergence in living standards between the industrial North (or 'West') and a non-industrial, or even de-industrializing, South (or 'Rest'). This nineteenth-century divergence, which had profound economic, military, and geopolitical implications, has been studied in great detail by many economists and historians. Today, this divergence between the 'West' and the 'Rest' is visibly unravelling, as economies in Asia, Latin America and even sub-Saharan Africa converge on the rich economies of Europe and North America. This phenomenon, which is set to define the twenty-first century, both economically and politically, has also been the subject of a considerable amount of research. Less appreciated, however, are the deep historical roots of this convergence process, and in particular of the spread of modern industry to the global periphery. This volume fills this gap by providing a systematic, comparative, historical account of the spread of modern manufacturing beyond its traditional heartland, to Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, or what we call the poor periphery. It identifies the timing of this convergence, finding that this was fastest in the interwar and post-World War II years, not the more recent 'miracle growth' years. It also identifies which driving forces were common to all periphery countries, and which were not. Contributors to this volume - Gareth Austin, University of Cambridge Jean-Pascal Bassino, Ecole normale superieure de Lyon Agustin Benetrix, Trinity College Dublin Loren Brandt, University of Toronto Gerardo della Paolera, Universidad de San Andres Xavier Duran, Manchester Business School Ewout Frankema, Wageningen University Matteo Gomellini , Banca d'Italia Aurora Gomez Galvarriato, Harvard University Bishnupriya Gupta, University of Warwick Martin Ivanov, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Morten Jerven, Simon Fraser University Ula? Karakoc, London School of Economics Alexander Klein, University of Kent Michael Kopsidis, Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies Debin Ma, London School of Economics Andrei Markevich, The New Economic School Graciela Marquez Colin, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Aldo Musacchio, Brandeis University Steven Nafziger, Williams College Kevin O'Rourke, All Souls College, Oxford ?evket Pamuk, The Ataturk Institute for Modern Turkish History Laura Panza, University of Melbourne Dwight Perkins, Harvard University Thomas Rawski, University of Pittsburgh Tirthankar Roy, London School of Economics Max-Stephan Schulze, London School of Economics John Tang, Australian National University Gianni Toniolo, Duke University Tamas Vonyo, Bocconi University Jeffrey Williamson, emeritus, Harvard University

When Britain turned inward: Protection and the shift towards Empire in interwar Britain

2017
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Journal article
International trade became much less multilateral during the 1930s. Previous studies, looking at aggregate trade flows, have argued that discriminatory trade policies had comparatively little to do with this. Using highly disaggregated information on the UK's imports and trade policies, we find that policy can explain the majority of Britain's shift towards Imperial imports in the 1930s. Trade policy mattered, a lot.

Economics

2016
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

Economics

2016
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

Economics

2016
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

The Great Depression of the 1930s and the world economic crisis after 2008

2016
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Chapter
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A History of the Global Economy 1500 to the Present
Why are some parts of the world poor today, while others are rich? At which point in time did they diverge, and what were the reasons?
Business & Economics

The Economist and Global History

2016
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Chapter
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The Prospect of Global History
'The Prospect of Global History' offers a new approach to the study of history, looking at the subject across a greater chronological range and seeking perspectives from sources beyond conventional European narratives.

Economic Impossibilities For Our Grandchildren?

2015
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Journal article
Abstract: The paper looks at the development of the secular stagnation thesis, in the context of the economic history of the time. It explores some 19th century antecedents of the thesis, before turning to its interwar development. Not only Alvin Hansen, but Keynes and Hicks were involved in the conversations that led to Hansen's eventual statement of the thesis that we are familiar with. The argument made sense in the context of the interwar period, but more so in Britain than the US.
Secular stagnation, Alvin Hansen, Keynes, Economic history, History of economic thought, Interwar

Economic Impossibilities for Our Grandchildren?

2015
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Journal article

Economics

2015
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

The Triangular Trade from a Global Perspective

2015
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Chapter
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The Legacy of Eric Williams Caribbean Scholar and Statesman
This is the first comprehensive historical assessment of the career of Eric Williams, the scholar and statesman.
Political Science

The Spread of Manufacturing to the Poor Periphery 1870-2007

2015
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Journal article
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OPEN ECONOMIES REVIEW
Third world industrialization, History

Economics

2015
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

Economics

2015
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Journal article
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Critical Quarterly

Growth in mature economies: The second CEPR-Modena conference

2015
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Journal article
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Geneva Reports on the World Economy
© December 2014 Centre for Economic Policy Research. The second CEPR-Modena Conference on Growth in Mature Economies was held on 7-8 November 2013, the second in a series of events focusing on growth in mature economies. The inspiration for this conference series came from Lucrezia Reichlin, Professor of Economics at the London Business School and former CEPR Research Director, who sought to bring together researchers to discuss a key policy issue: how to stimulate growth in mature economies, those that cannot move closer to the technology frontier nor add more capital. The protraction of the Eurozone crisis, ageing populations and a shift in world trade balances make this a crucial research avenue in the long run as well as having more immediate policy implications. This report addresses a wide range of issues, from labourmarket reforms to China’s growth miracle. The Center for Economic Research (RECent) at the University of Modena Reggio Emilia has played a decisive role in the production of this report and conference series. We are indebted to them and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, for their generous fi nancial support that made the conference possible. We are grateful to Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke and Isabella Rota Baldini for their great efforts in producing this report from the output of the conference, and to Kevin, Lucrezia Reichlin and Graziella Bertocchi for organising the conference itself. And as ever, we also thank Charlie Anderson for his typical skill and speed in producing the report.

A monthly stock exchange index for Ireland, 1864-1930

2014
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Journal article
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EUROPEAN REVIEW OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
E3, G12, N23, N24

Whither the EURO?

2014
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Journal article
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Finance and Development

Coal and the European Industrial Revolution

2014
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Journal article
We examine the importance of geographical proximity to coal as a factor underpinning comparative European economic development during the Industrial Revolution.  Our analysis exploits geographical variation in city and coalfield locations, alongside temporal variation in the availability of coal-powered technologies, to quantify the effect of coal availability on historic city population sizes.  Since we suspect that our coal measure could be endogenous, we use a geologically derived measure as an instrumental variable: proximity to rock strata from the Carboniferous era.  Consistent with traditional historical accounts of the Industrial Revolution, we find that coal exhibits a strong influence on city population size from 1800 onward.  Counterfactual estimates of city population sizes indicate that our estimated coal effect explains at least 60% of the growth in European city populations from 1750 to 1900.  This result is robust to a number of alternative modelling assumptions regarding missing historical population data, spatially lagged effects, and the exclusion of the United Kingdom from the estimation sample.
Coal, Historical Population, Geography

Coal and the European Industrial Revolution

2014
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Scholarly edition
We examine the importance of geographical proximity to coal as a factor underpinning comparative European economic development during the Industrial Revolution.  Our analysis exploits geographical variation in city and coalfield locations, alongside temporal variation in the availability of coal-powered technologies, to quantify the effect of coal availability on historic city population sizes.  Since we suspect that our coal measure could be endogenous, we use a geologically derived measure as an instrumental variable: proximity to rock strata from the Carboniferous era.  Consistent with traditional historical accounts of the Industrial Revolution, we find that coal exhibits a strong influence on city population size from 1800 onward.  Counterfactual estimates of city population sizes indicate that our estimated coal effect explains at least 60% of the growth in European city populations from 1750 to 1900.  This result is robust to a number of alternative modelling assumptions regarding missing historical population data, spatially lagged effects, and the exclusion of the United Kingdom from the estimation sample.
Coal, Historical Population, Geography

A monthly stock exchange index for Ireland, 1864–1930

2014
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Journal article
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European Review of Economic History
This paper constructs new monthly Irish stock market price indices for 1864–1930. In addition to a total market index covering 118 equity securities issued by ninety-four companies, sectoral indices are presented for railways, financial services companies, and "other" companies. Nominal equity prices doubled between 1864 and 1898. Between the turn of the century and 1914, prices fell by 25 percent, in contrast to the price increases experienced on the London exchange. Overall, the average annual gain in equity prices over the period was just 0.9 percent. We speculate about the respective roles of Irish politics and international shocks in driving these trends.

The growing dependence of Britain on trade during the Industrial Revolution

2014
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Journal article
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Scandinavian Economic History Review
Many previous studies of the role of trade during the British Industrial Revolution have found little or no role for trade in explaining British living standards or growth rates. We construct a three-region model of the world in which Britain trades with North America and the Rest of the World, and calibrate the model to data from the 1760s and 1850s. We find that while trade had only a small impact on British welfare in the 1760s, it had a very large impact in the 1850s. This contrast is robust to a large range of parameter perturbations. Biased technological change and population growth were key in explaining Britain's growing dependence on trade during the Industrial Revolution. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

The growing dependence of Britain on trade during the Industrial Revolution

2014
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Journal article
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Scandinavian Economic History Review
Many previous studies of the role of trade during the British Industrial Revolution have found little or no role for trade in explaining British living standards or growth rates. We construct a three-region model of the world in which Britain trades with North America and the Rest of the World, and calibrate the model to data from the 1760s and 1850s. We find that while trade had only a small impact on British welfare in the 1760s, it had a very large impact in the 1850s. This contrast is robust to a large range of parameter perturbations. Biased technological change and population growth were key in explaining Britain's growing dependence on trade during the Industrial Revolution. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Twentieth Century Growth

2014
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Scholarly edition
This paper surveys the experience of economic growth in the 20th century with a focus on technological change at the frontier together with issues related to success and failure in catch-up growth. A detailed account of growth performance based on historical national accounts data is given and is accompanied by a review of growth accounting evidence on the sources of economic growth. The key features of our analysis of divergence in growth outcomes are an emphasis on the importance of "directed" technical change, of institutional quality, and of geography. We provide brief case studies of the experience of individual countries to illustrate these points. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

A tale of two trilemmas

2013
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Chapter
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Enacting Globalization: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on International Integration
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2014. All rights reserved. EMU is a radical solution to the classic Mundell-Fleming macroeconomic policy trilemma. Unfortunately, it suffers from serious design flaws, and in particular from a lack of fiscal or banking union. This can be understood in terms of Rodrik's 'fundamental political trilemma of the world economy', which can also shed light on such issues as the quality of EU democracy. Hitherto, European governments have been able to navigate 'within the triangles' implied by this trilemma, but the current crisis is pushing them towards the edges, forcing them to make hard choices between democracy, the nation-state and deep economic integration. It is not clear what they will eventually decide.

Luddites, the industrial revolution, and the demographic transition

2013
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Journal article
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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
Skill bias, Directed technological change, Endogenous growth, Demography, Unified growth theory

A Tale of Two Trilemmas

2013
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Chapter
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Enacting Globalization: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on International Integration

A monthly stock exchange index for Ireland, 1864-1930

2013
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Scholarly edition
Information on the performance of equities during the latter part of the globalized long nineteenth century is scarce, particularly for smaller European economies such as Ireland.  Using a dataset of over 35,000 price-year observations from the Investor's Monthly Manual, this paper constructs new monthly Irish stock market price indices for the period 1864-1930, encompassing periods of significant economic and political turmoil in Irish history.  In addition to a total market index covering all 118 equity securities issued by 94 companies, sector-specific indices are presented for railways, financial services companies, and miscellaneous industrial and retail companies.  Weighted by market capitalization, nominal equity prices were largely static in the 1860s, before increasing by almost 60% in nominal terms between 1870 and 1878.  Between 1878 and 1879, equity prices fell by one sixth in the space of a year, after which there was a secular rise in equity prices for two decades, with equity prices in 1899 twice what they had been in 1864.  Between the turn of the century and the outbreak of the Great War, though, prices fell by 25%, a pattern that stands in stark contrast to returns on the London exchange, which were greater during 1894-1913 than during the preceding two decades.  The period from 1914 until 1929 saw a number of boom-bust cycles, concurrent with war and other political events affecting Ireland, including its independence movement.  Railway equities, which had trebled between the mid-1860s and the turn of the century, fell sharply during the 1910s and 1920s.  In contrast, financial equity prices - which were just 20% higher in 1920 than in 1864 - rose strongly during the 1920s.  Overall, the average annual gain in equity prices over the period was just 0.9%, well below levels associated with an equity premium puzzle.
E3, G12, N23, N24, Irish stock exchange, Investor's Monthly Manual, long-run stock returns, 19th Century, 20th Century, Ireland

A monthly stock exchange index for Ireland, 1864-1930

2013
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Scholarly edition
Information on the performance of equities during the latter part of the globalized long nineteenth century is scarce, particularly for smaller European economies such as Ireland.  Using a dataset of over 35,000 price-year observations from the Investor's Monthly Manual, this paper constructs new monthly Irish stock market price indices for the period 1864-1930, encompassing periods of significant economic and political turmoil in Irish history.  In addition to a total market index covering all 118 equity securities issued by 94 companies, sector-specific indices are presented for railways, financial services companies, and miscellaneous industrial and retail companies.  Weighted by market capitalization, nominal equity prices were largely static in the 1860s, before increasing by almost 60% in nominal terms between 1870 and 1878.  Between 1878 and 1879, equity prices fell by one sixth in the space of a year, after which there was a secular rise in equity prices for two decades, with equity prices in 1899 twice what they had been in 1864.  Between the turn of the century and the outbreak of the Great War, though, prices fell by 25%, a pattern that stands in stark contrast to returns on the London exchange, which were greater during 1894-1913 than during the preceding two decades.  The period from 1914 until 1929 saw a number of boom-bust cycles, concurrent with war and other political events affecting Ireland, including its independence movement.  Railway equities, which had trebled between the mid-1860s and the turn of the century, fell sharply during the 1910s and 1920s.  In contrast, financial equity prices - which were just 20% higher in 1920 than in 1864 - rose strongly during the 1920s.  Overall, the average annual gain in equity prices over the period was just 0.9%, well below levels associated with an equity premium puzzle.
E3, G12, N23, N24, Irish stock exchange, Investor's Monthly Manual, long-run stock returns, 19th Century, 20th Century, Ireland

Twentieth Century Growth

2013
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Scholarly edition
This paper surveys the experience of economic growth in the 20th century with a focus on technological change at the frontier together with issues related to success and failure in catch-up growth.  A detailed account of growth performance based on historical national accounts data is given and is accompanied by a review of growth accounting evidence on the sources of economic growth.  The key features of our analysis of divergence in growth outcomes are an emphasis on the importance of 'directed' technical change, of institutional quality, and of geography.  We provide brief case studies of the experience of individual countries to illustrate these points.
N10. O33, O43, O47, catch-up, divergence, growth accounting, technical change

Political Extremism in the 1920s and 1930s: Do German Lessons Generalize?

2013
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Journal article
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The Journal of Economic History
We examine the impact of the Great Depression on the share of votes for right-wing extremists in elections in the 1920s and 1930s. We confirm the existence of a link between political extremism and economic hard times as captured by growth or contraction of the economy. What mattered was not simply growth at the time of the election, but cumulative growth performance. The impact was greatest in countries with relatively short histories of democracy, with electoral systems that created low hurdles to parliamentary representation, and which had been on the losing side in World War I.

Political Extremism in the 1920s and 1930s: Do German Lessons Generalize?

2013
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Journal article
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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Cross of Euros

2013
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Journal article
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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

From Empire to Europe: Britain in the World Economy

2012
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Scholarly edition
This chapter provides a brief introduction to the history of Britain’s engagement with the international economy between 1870 and 2010. It begins by discussing long run trends in the integration of the British economy with the rest of the world over time. Economic historians are typically interested in four types of flows between economies: trade in goods and services; flows of capital; migration flows; and flows of ideas and technology. The last flow is probably the most important one for countries hoping to catch up to the international technological frontier. While this was not the right way to characterise the British economy in 1870, it probably was at various points after World War II. Unfortunately, such flows are also the most difficult to quantify, and so I follow the bulk of the literature in concentrating on trade, capital flows and migration. 

How housing slumps end

2012
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Journal article
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Economic Policy

How housing slumps end

2012
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Journal article
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ECONOMIC POLICY

From Great Depression to Great Credit Crisis: Similarities, Differences and Lessons

2012
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Chapter
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Economic Policy 62
The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Credit Crisis of the 2000shad similar causes but elicited strikingly different policy responses. While itremains too early to assess the effectiveness of current policy, it is possible toanalyse monetary and fiscal responses in the 1930s as a natural experiment orcounterfactual capable of shedding light on the impact of current policies. Weemploy vector autoregressions, instrumental variables, and qualitative evidencefor 27 countries in the period 1925-39. The results suggest that monetary andfiscal stimulus was effective - that where it did not make a difference it wasnot tried. They shed light on the debate over fiscal multipliers in episodes offinancial crisis. They are consistent with multipliers at the higher end of thoseestimated in the recent literature, and with the argument that the impact offiscal stimulus will be greater when banking systems are dysfunctional andmonetary policy is constrained by the zero bound. © CEPR, CES, MSH, 2010.

The Spread of Manufacturing to the Periphery 1870-2007: Eight Stylized Facts

2012
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Scholarly edition
This paper documents industrial output growth around the poor periphery (Latin America, the European periphery, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa) between 1870 and 2007.  We provide answers to the following questions.  When and where did rapid industrial growth begin in the periphery?  When and where did peripheral growth rates exceed those in the industrial core?  When was the high-point of peripheral industrial growth?  When and where did it become widespread?  When was the high-point of peripheral convergence on the core?  How variable was the growth experience between countries?  And how persistent was peripheral industrial growth?
F1, N7, O2, Third World industrialization, History

Commodity market disintegration in the interwar period

2012
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Journal article
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EUROPEAN REVIEW OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

War, Trade, and Natural Resources: A Historical Perspective

2012
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Chapter
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The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Peace and Conflict
© 2012 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. This article builds on the sweeping perspective of the past millennium in the book Power and Plenty. Going back and forth between history and theory -specifically, an economic model of the empire and one of trade in the presence of insecurity-it illustrates the central role played by power and conflict, and suggests that trade cannot be separated from power considerations. The article also shows that economic theory and history can usefully be applied to the unified treatment of war, trade, and natural resources in relation to them.

Right Wing Political Extremism in the Great Depression

2012
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Scholarly edition
We examine the impact of the Great Depression on the share of votes for right-wing anti-system parties in elections in the 1920s and 1930s.  We confirm the existence of a link between political extremism and economic hard times as captured by growth or contraction of the economy.  What mattered was not simply growth at the time of the election but cumulative growth performance.  But the effect of the Depression on support for right-wing anti-system parties was not equally powerful under all economic, political and social circumstances.  It was greatest in countries with relatively short histories of democracy, with existing extremist parties, and with electoral systems that created low hurdles to parliamentary representation.  Above all, it was greatest where depressed economic conditions were allowed to persist.
N10, D72, Great Depression, Political extremism, Voting

Right Wing Political Extremism in the Great Depression

2012
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Journal article
We examine the impact of the Great Depression on the share of votes for right-wing anti-system parties in elections in the 1920s and 1930s.  We confirm the existence of a link between political extremism and economic hard times as captured by growth or contraction of the economy.  What mattered was not simply growth at the time of the election but cumulative growth performance.  But the effect of the Depression on support for right-wing anti-system parties was not equally powerful under all economic, political and social circumstances.  It was greatest in countries with relatively short histories of democracy, with existing extremist parties, and with electoral systems that created low hurdles to parliamentary representation.  Above all, it was greatest where depressed economic conditions were allowed to persist.
N10, D72, Great Depression, Political extremism, Voting

Italy and the First Age of Globalization, 1861-1940

2012
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Scholarly edition
The paper presents trade policy as in line with that of other continental European powers, with a move to moderate levels of tariff protection for politically sensitive sectors such as steel and textiles and clothing, but also in agriculture, with levels of protection falling slightly before the First World War.  Monetary policy was similarly driven by the constraints of capital scarcity, and the political priority attached to reducing the cost of funding government debt.  The most innovative area was probably in industrial policy, where after the 1880s and again in the 1930s in response to severe shocks, quite creative institutional policies were adopted.  In particular financial restructuring was used as an opportunity to reshape the structure of industry.
N23, N24, N73, N74, Comparative economic history, Industrial policy, Monetary, Policy, Monetary regime, Trade policy

Introduction: The spread of and resistance to global capitalism

2012
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Chapter
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The Cambridge History of Capitalism Volume 2: The Spread of Capitalism: From 1848 to the Present
© Cambridge University Press 2014. This second volume of the Cambridge History of Capitalism deals with capitalism’s evolution within Western Europe and its offshoots, and its spread to the rest of the world after 1848. Throughout, capitalism increased in complexity as it overcame resistance and setbacks. Given that global capitalism is currently under severe stress and that world economic growth appears to be slowing down, it is easy to be distracted by these problems of the present. Indeed, the last chapter of this volume will focus mainly on those problems as they relate to the future. This introduction, however, will resist this presentist temptation and instead use the past to organize our thinking. Here we trace out capitalism’s global historical road map since 1848 so that the details in the chapters that follow can be placed in context. Capitalism and global capitalism: The spread of global capitalism has two dimensions, and they can be distinguished by means of an analogy that will appear again towards the end of the chapter. The gold standard was, strictly speaking, a domestic institution, linking a country’s money supply to its gold reserves. The gold standard only became an international exchange rate system once several countries had independently decided to adopt the gold standard, and to allow free trade in gold. Similarly, the emergence of global capitalism as an international economic system required not only that the institutions of capitalism be introduced in the economies of all global participants, but also that those participants allowed a wide range of economic interactions to take place between them. If socialism had succeeded in embracing the planet, we would have had an international system that was certainly global, but not capitalist. And it has not been uncommon for capitalist economies to shield themselves from the global economy. A global capitalist system requires both the domestic capitalist institutions and the international interactions.

Coping with Shocks and Shifts: The Multilateral Trading System in Historical Perspective

2011
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Chapter
This paper provides a historical look at how the multilateral trading system has coped with the challenge of shocks and shifts. By shocks we mean sudden jolts to the world economy in the form of financial crises and deep recessions, or wars and political conflicts. By shifts we mean slow-moving, long-term changes in comparative advantage or shifts in the geopolitical equilibrium that force economies to undergo disruptive and potentially painful adjustments. We conclude that most shocks (financial crises and regional wars) have had relatively little effect on trade policy, but that shifts pose a greater challenge to the system of open, multilateral trade.

Commodity Price Volatility and World Market Integration since 1700

2011
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Journal article
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The Review of Economics and Statistics
Poor countries are more volatile than rich countries, and this volatility impedes their growth. Furthermore, commodity prices are a key source of that volatility. This paper explores price volatility since 1700 to offer three stylized facts: commodity price volatility has not increased over time, commodities have always shown greater price volatility than manufactures, and world market integration breeds less commodity price volatility. Thus, economic isolation is associated with much greater commodity price volatility, while world market integration is associated with less.

The structure of protection and growth in the late nineteenth century

2011
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Journal article
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The Review of Economics and Statistics

From Great Depression to Great Credit Crisis: similarities, differences and lessons

2010
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Journal article
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ECONOMIC POLICY

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe

2010
|
Book
Unlike most existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with the material organised by topic rather than by country. This first volume is centred on the transition to modern economic growth, which first occurred in Britain before spreading to other parts of western Europe by 1870. Each chapter is written by an international team of authors who cover the three major regions of northern Europe, southern Europe, and central and eastern Europe. The volume covers the major themes of modern economic history, including trade; urbanization; aggregate economic growth; the major sectors of agriculture, industry and services; and the development of living standards, including the distribution of income. The quantitative approach makes use of modern economic analysis in a way that is easy for students to understand.

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe

2010
|
Book
Unlike most existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with the material organized by topic rather than by country. This second volume tracks Europe's economic history through three major phases since 1870. The first phase was an age of globalization and of European economic and political dominance that lasted until the First World War. The second, from 1914 to 1945, was one of war, deglobalization, and depression and the third was one of growing integration not only within Europe but also between Europe and the global economy. Leading authors offer comprehensive and accessible introductions to these patterns of globalization and deglobalization as well as to key themes in modern economic history such as economic growth, business cycles, sectoral developments, and population and living standards.

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe

2010
|
Book
Unlike most existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with the material organised by topic rather than by country. This first volume is centred on the transition to modern economic growth, which first occurred in Britain before spreading to other parts of western Europe by 1870. Each chapter is written by an international team of authors who cover the three major regions of northern Europe, southern Europe, and central and eastern Europe. The volume covers the major themes of modern economic history, including trade; urbanization; aggregate economic growth; the major sectors of agriculture, industry and services; and the development of living standards, including the distribution of income. The quantitative approach makes use of modern economic analysis in a way that is easy for students to understand.

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe

2010
|
Book
Unlike existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with material organised by topic rather than by country. The first volume is centred on the transition to modern economic growth, which first occurred in Britain before spreading to other parts of western Europe by 1870, whilst the second tracks Europe's economic history through three major phases since 1870. Each chapter is written by an international team of authors who cover the three major regions of northern Europe, southern Europe, and central and eastern Europe. The two volumes together provide a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the key themes in modern economic history from trade, urbanisation, economic growth and business cycles to sectoral developments, and population and living standards.

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe

2010
|
Book
Unlike most existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with the material organized by topic rather than by country. This second volume tracks Europe's economic history through three major phases since 1870. The first phase was an age of globalization and of European economic and political dominance that lasted until the First World War. The second, from 1914 to 1945, was one of war, deglobalization, and depression and the third was one of growing integration not only within Europe but also between Europe and the global economy. Leading authors offer comprehensive and accessible introductions to these patterns of globalization and deglobalization as well as to key themes in modern economic history such as economic growth, business cycles, sectoral developments, and population and living standards.

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe 2 Volume Paperback Set

2010
|
Book
Unlike existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with material organised by topic rather than by country. The first volume is centred on the transition to modern economic growth, which first occurred in Britain before spreading to other parts of western Europe by 1870, whilst the second tracks Europe's economic history through three major phases since 1870. Each chapter is written by an international team of authors who cover the three major regions of northern Europe, southern Europe, and central and eastern Europe. The two volumes together provide a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the key themes in modern economic history from trade, urbanisation, economic growth and business cycles to sectoral developments, and population and living standards.

The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe Volume 1: 1700–1870

2010
|
Book
© Cambridge University Press 2010.Unlike most existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with the material organised by topic rather than by country. This first volume is centred on the transition to modern economic growth, which first occurred in Britain before spreading to other parts of western Europe by 1870. Each chapter is written by an international team of authors who cover the three major regions of northern Europe, southern Europe, and central and eastern Europe. The volume covers the major themes of modern economic history, including trade; urbanization; aggregate economic growth; the major sectors of agriculture, industry and services; and the development of living standards, including the distribution of income. The quantitative approach makes use of modern economic analysis in a way that is easy for students to understand.

The cambridge economic history of modern europe Volume 2: 1870 to the present

2010
|
Book
© Cambridge University Press 2010. Unlike most existing textbooks on the economic history of modern Europe, which offer a country-by-country approach, The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe rethinks Europe's economic history since 1700 as unified and pan-European, with the material organized by topic rather than by country. This second volume tracks Europe's economic history through three major phases since 1870. The first phase was an age of globalization and of European economic and political dominance that lasted until the First World War. The second, from 1914 to 1945, was one of war, deglobalization, and depression and the third was one of growing integration not only within Europe but also between Europe and the global economy. Leading authors offer comprehensive and accessible introductions to these patterns of globalization and deglobalization as well as to key themes in modern economic history such as economic growth, business cycles, sectoral developments, and population and living standards.

Trade and empire

2010
|
Chapter
|
The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe Volume 1: 1700-1870
© Cambridge University Press 2010. Introduction: the rise and fall of European mercantilism At the start of the first millennium, western Europe was the most peripheral region in Eurasia. Like Africa, its exports largely consisted of forest products and slaves, and it had direct economic links with just two other Eurasian regions – eastern Europe and the Islamic world. By contrast, the Islamic world had direct economic contacts with all the regions of the then known world: eastern and western Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the steppe societies of central Asia, and the highly developed civilizations of south Asia, southeast Asia, and east Asia (Findlay and O'Rourke, 2007). By the eighteenth century, western Europe was no longer a peripheral appendage of the Eurasian landmass, but had become geographically and politically central. It was now in direct contact with all other regions of Eurasia, as well as with sub-Saharan Africa, but more importantly it controlled both North and South America, which were fully integrated into the world economy, importing slaves from Africa, exporting a variety of colonial goods to Europe, and exporting silver both to Europe and to Asia via the Philippines. As for eastern Europe, it was now in direct contact not just with central Asia and the Muslim world, but with east Asia and North America as well, as a result of Russia's Siberian conquests, which would prove to be the most enduring of all the European imperialisms of that time.

Comments on Challú, Giné, and Tang

2009
|
Journal article
|
Journal of Economic History

Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium

2009
|
Book
International trade has shaped the modern world, yet until now no single book has been available for both economists and general readers that traces the history of the international economy from its earliest beginnings to the present day. Power and Plenty fills this gap, providing the first full account of world trade and development over the course of the last millennium.
Business & Economics

The era of free migration: Lessons for today

2009
|
Scholarly edition

Power and plenty: Trade, war, and the world economy in the second millennium

2009
|
Book
International trade has shaped the modern world, yet until now no single book has been available for both economists and general readers that traces the history of the international economy from its earliest beginnings to the present day.Power and Plentyfills this gap, providing the first full account of world trade and development over the course of the last millennium.Ronald Findlay and Kevin O'Rourke examine the successive waves of globalization and "deglobalization" that have occurred during the past thousand years, looking closely at the technological and political causes behind these long-term trends. They show how the expansion and contraction of the world economy has been directly tied to the two-way interplay of trade and geopolitics, and how war and peace have been critical determinants of international trade over the very long run. The story they tell is sweeping in scope, one that links the emergence of the Western economies with economic and political developments throughout Eurasia centuries ago. Drawing extensively upon empirical evidence and informing their systematic analysis with insights from contemporary economic theory, Findlay and O'Rourke demonstrate the close interrelationships of trade and warfare, the mutual interdependence of the world's different regions, and the crucial role these factors have played in explaining modern economic growth.Power and Plentyis a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the origins of today's international economy, the forces that continue to shape it, and the economic and political challenges confronting policymakers in the twenty-first century. © 2007 by Princeton University Press. All Rights Reserved.

The Structure of Protection and Growth in the Late Nineteenth Century

2009
|
Conference paper
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Did Vasco da Gama matter for European markets?

2009
|
Journal article
|
Economic History Review: a journal of economic and social history

Luddites and the Demographic Transition

2008
|
Journal article

Luddites and the Demographic Transition

2008
|
Journal article
demography, endogenous growth, unified growth theory

Made in America? The New World, the Old, and the Industrial Revolution

2008
|
Journal article

Made in America? The New World, the Old, and the Industrial Revolution

2008
|
Journal article
|
AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW

Globalization, Growth and Distribution in Spain 1500-1913

2008
|
Scholarly edition
The endogenous growth literature has explored the transition from a Malthusian world where real wages, living standards and labor productivity are all linked to factor endowments, to one where (endogenous) productivity change embedded in modern industrial growth breaks that link. Recently, economic historians have presented evidence from England showing that the dramatic reversal in distributional trends --from a steep secular fall in wage-land rent ratios before 1800 to a steep secular rise thereafter – must be explained both by industrial revolutionary growth forces and by global forces that opened up the English economy to international trade. This paper explores whether and how the relationship was different for Spain, a country which had relatively poor productivity growth in agriculture and low living standards prior to 1800, was a late-comer to industrialization afterwards, and adopted very restrictive policies towards imports for much of the 19th century. The failure of Spanish wage-rental ratios to undergo a sustained rise after 1840 can be attributed to the delayed fall in relative agricultural prices (due to those protective policies) and to the decline in Spanish manufacturing productivity after 1898.
F1, N7, O4

Property rights, politics and innovation: creamery diffusion in pre-1914 Ireland

2007
|
Journal article
|
EUROPEAN REVIEW OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Property rights, politics and innovation: creamery diffusion in pre-1914 Ireland

2007
|
Journal article
|
European Review of Economic History

The European economy since 1945: Coordinated capitalism and beyond

2007
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

Culture, conflict and cooperation: Irish dairying before the great war

2007
|
Journal article
|
ECONOMIC JOURNAL

War and welfare: Britain, France, and the United States 1807-14

2007
|
Scholarly edition

The New Comparative Economic History

2007
|
Book
The innovative approach to economic history known as the New Comparative Economic History represents a distinct change in the way that many economic historians view their role, do their work, and interact with the broader economics profession. The New Comparative Economic History reflects a belief that economic processes can best be understood by systematically comparing experiences across time, regions, and, above all, countries. It is motivated by current questions that are not nation specific--the sources of economic growth, the importance of institutions, and the impact of globalization--and focuses on long-run trends rather than short-run ups and downs in economic activity. The essays in this volume offer a New Economic Comparative History perspective on a range of topics and are written in honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson, the most distinguished and influential scholar in the field. The contributors, prominent American and European economists, consider such topics as migration, education, and wage convergence; democracy and protectionism in the nineteenth century; trade and immigration policies in labor-scarce economies; and the effect of institutions on European productivity and jobs.
N0, Jeffrey G. Williamson, migration, wage convergence, protectionism

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson

2007
|
Book
The innovative approach to economic history known as the New Comparative Economic History represents a distinct change in the way that many economic historians view their role, do their work, and interact with the broader economics profession. The New Comparative Economic History reflects a belief that economic processes can best be understood by systematically comparing experiences across time, regions, and, above all, countries. It is motivated by current questions that are not nation specific--the sources of economic growth, the importance of institutions, and the impact of globalization--and focuses on long-run trends rather than short-run ups and downs in economic activity. The essays in this volume offer a New Economic Comparative History perspective on a range of topics and are written in honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson, the most distinguished and influential scholar in the field. The contributors, prominent American and European economists, consider such topics as migration, education, and wage convergence; democracy and protectionism in the nineteenth century; trade and immigration policies in labor-scarce economies; and the effect of institutions on European productivity and jobs.
N30, N40, N70

Trade, Knowledge and the Industrial Revolution

2007
|
Journal article
Endogenous growth, demography, trade

Trade, Knowledge, and the Industrial Revolution

2007
|
Scholarly edition
Technological change was unskilled-labor-biased during the early Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but is skill-biased today. This fact is not embedded in extant unified growth models. We develop a model of the transition to sustained economic growth which can endogenously account for both these facts, by allowing the factor bias of technological innovations to reflect the profitmaximising decisions of innovators. Endowments dictated that the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution be unskilled-labor biased. The transition to skill-biased technological change was due to a growth in “Baconian knowledge” and international trade. Simulations show that the model does a good job of tracking reality, at least until the mass education reforms of the late nineteenth century.
Endogenous growth, Demography, Trade

Globalization, Growth and Distribution in Spain 1500-1913

2007
|
Scholarly edition
The endogenous growth literature has explored the transition from a Malthusian world where real wages, living standards and labor productivity are all linked to factor endowments, to one where (endogenous) productivity change embedded in modern industrial growth breaks that link. Recently, economic historians have presented evidence from England showing that the dramatic reversal in distributional trends – from a steep secular fall in wage-land rent ratios before 1800 to a steep secular rise thereafter – must be explained both by industrial revolutionary growth forces and by global forces that opened up the English economy to international trade. This paper explores whether and how the relationship was different for Spain, a country which had relatively poor productivity growth in agriculture and low living standards prior to 1800, was a late-comer to industrialization afterwards, and adopted very restrictive policies towards imports for much of the 19th century. The failure of Spanish wage-rental ratios to undergo a sustained rise after 1840 can be attributed to the delayed fall in relative agricultural prices (due to those protective policies) and to the decline in Spanish manufacturing productivity after 1898.
Growth, distribution, globalization, Spain

Risk, Government andd Globalization: International Survey Evidence

2007
|
Scholarly edition
This paper uses international survey data to document two stylized facts. First, risk aversion is associated with anti-trade attitudes. Second, this effect is smaller in countries with greater levels of government expenditure. The paper thus provides evidence for the microeconomic underpinnings of the argument associated with Ruggie (1982), Rodrik (1998) and others that government spending can bolster support for globalization by reducing the risk associated with it in the minds of voters.
Trade attitudes, risk

Trade, Knowledge, and the Industrial Revolution

2007
|
Journal article

Trade, Knowledge, and the Industrial Revolution

2007
|
Journal article
|
IIIS Discussion Paper
Endogenous growth, Demography, Trade

Democracy and Protectionism

2007
|
Scholarly edition
Does democracy encourage free trade? It depends. Broadening the franchise involves transferring power from non-elected elites to the wider population, most of whom will be workers. The Hecksher- Ohlin-Stolper-Samuelson logic says that democratization should lead to more liberal trade policies in countries where workers stand to gain from free trade; and to more protectionist policies in countries where workers will benefit from the imposition of tariffs and quotas. We test and confirm these political economy implications of trade theory hypothesis using data on democracy, factor endowments, and protection in the late nineteenth century.
factor endowments, Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory, Stolper- Samuelson theorem and tariffs

Introduction to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium

2007
|
Chapter
International trade has shaped the modern world, yet until now no single book has been available for both economists and general readers that traces the history of the international economy from its earliest beginnings to the present day. <i>Power and Plenty</i> fills this gap, providing the first full account of world trade and development over the course of the last millennium. Ronald Findlay and Kevin O'Rourke examine the successive waves of globalization and "deglobalization" that have occurred during the past thousand years, looking closely at the technological and political causes behind these long-term trends. They show how the expansion and contraction of the world economy has been directly tied to the two-way interplay of trade and geopolitics, and how war and peace have been critical determinants of international trade over the very long run. The story they tell is sweeping in scope, one that links the emergence of the Western economies with economic and political developments throughout Eurasia centuries ago. Drawing extensively upon empirical evidence and informing their systematic analysis with insights from contemporary economic theory, Findlay and O'Rourke demonstrate the close interrelationships of trade and warfare, the mutual interdependence of the world's different regions, and the crucial role these factors have played in explaining modern economic growth. <i>Power and Plenty</i> is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the origins of today's international economy, the forces that continue to shape it, and the economic and political challenges confronting policymakers in the twenty-first century.
N00, power, trade, war, peace, world economy, technology, geopolitics, development, growth

Preface to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium

2007
|
Chapter
International trade has shaped the modern world, yet until now no single book has been available for both economists and general readers that traces the history of the international economy from its earliest beginnings to the present day. <i>Power and Plenty</i> fills this gap, providing the first full account of world trade and development over the course of the last millennium. Ronald Findlay and Kevin O'Rourke examine the successive waves of globalization and "deglobalization" that have occurred during the past thousand years, looking closely at the technological and political causes behind these long-term trends. They show how the expansion and contraction of the world economy has been directly tied to the two-way interplay of trade and geopolitics, and how war and peace have been critical determinants of international trade over the very long run. The story they tell is sweeping in scope, one that links the emergence of the Western economies with economic and political developments throughout Eurasia centuries ago. Drawing extensively upon empirical evidence and informing their systematic analysis with insights from contemporary economic theory, Findlay and O'Rourke demonstrate the close interrelationships of trade and warfare, the mutual interdependence of the world's different regions, and the crucial role these factors have played in explaining modern economic growth. <i>Power and Plenty</i> is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the origins of today's international economy, the forces that continue to shape it, and the economic and political challenges confronting policymakers in the twenty-first century.
N00, power, trade, war, peace, world economy, technology, geopolitics, development, growth

The determinants of individual attitudes towards immigration

2006
|
Journal article
|
European Journal of Political Economy
The paper formulates hypotheses and reports on individual attitudes towards immigration based on data for 24 countries on socioeconomic position, sociodemographic characteristics and political attitudes. The results are consistent with the predictions of factor proportions trade theory, but also suggest that a range of other economic and cultural factors influence attitudes towards immigration. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measuring Protection: A Cautionary Tale

2006
|
Chapter
|
Classical Trade Protectionism 1815-1914
Long-held views on modern trade policies have been challenged by the introduction of recent theoretical developments in international economics and in measurement techniques brought about in the 1960s and 70s. One question in particular has attracted attention and has contributed to the bringing to light of a number of previously ignored measurement and interpretation problems: the assessment of French and British nineteenth century trade policies. This noteworthy volume examines the theoretical and practical problems associated with the assessment and measurement of the direct impact of tariffs, prohibitions and quotas on domestic prices, output structure and competitiveness. The contributors also examine the direct and long-run consequences of protectionist measures on particular economies, utilizing evidence from in-depth investigations of trade statistics as well as ‘best practice’ statistical techniques such as effective protection, elasticity of demand and revealed comparative advantage.

Tariffs and growth in the late nineteenth century

2006
|
Chapter
|
Classical Trade Protectionism 1815-1914

Democracy and Protectionism

2006
|
Journal article

Did Vasco da Gama Matter for European Markets?Testing Frederick Lane's Hypotheses Fifty Years Later

2006
|
Scholarly edition
In his seminal publications between the 1930s and 1960s, Frederick Lane offered three hypotheses regarding the impact of the Voyages of Discovery that have guided debate ever since. First, pepper and other spice prices did not rise in European markets in the century before the 1490s, and thus could not have ‘pulled in’ the oceanic explorations by their rising scarcity. Second, Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa did not lower European spice prices across the 16th century, implying that the discovery of the Cape route had no permanent effect on Euro-Asian market integration. Third, 15th century Venetian spice markets were already well integrated with those in Iberia and northern Europe, implying that Portugal could not have had an intra-European market integrating influence in the 16th century. Lane developed these influential hypotheses by relying heavily on nominal spice prices from Venice and the Levant. This paper revisits Lane’s hypotheses by using instead relative spice prices, that is, accounting for inflation. It also draws on evidence from Iberia and northern Europe. In addition, it explores European market integration before and after 1503, the year when da Gama returned from his financially successful second voyage. Lane’s three hypotheses are rejected: the impact of the Portuguese was profound on all fronts. We conclude by using a simple model of monopoly and oligopoly to decompose the sources of the Cape route’s impact on European markets.
N.14, N7

The worldwide economic impact of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815

2006
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF GLOBAL HISTORY

Late nineteenth-century Denmark in an Irish mirror: Land tenure, homogeneity, and the roots of Danish success

2006
|
Chapter
|
National Identity and the Varieties of Capitalism: The Danish Experience

Incentives, technology and the shift to year-round dairying in late nineteenth-century Denmark
-super-1

2005
|
Journal article
|
The Economic History Review

Incentives, technology and the shift to year-round dairying in late nineteenth-century Denmark

2005
|
Journal article
|
ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW

From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade, industrialisation and distribution since 1500

2005
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
trade, industrial revolution, income distribution

The International Trading System, Globalization and History

2005
|
Book
The focus of this collection is the history of the international trading system over the past two centuries. Volume I includes an overview of the subject area as well as sections considering the effects of war and peace, the late nineteenth-century backlash, and contemporary views of interwar disintegration. Volume II looks at the issues of hegemony, non-discrimination and reciprocity. It also covers customs unions, preferential trading agreements, trade wars and trade rivalry.

Migration flows: Political economy of migration and the empirical challenges

2004
|
Journal article
|
Revue d'Economie du Developpement
Immigration barriers began being erected in the New World in the late XIXthcentury. They were motivated by fears that the immigration of unskilled workers would increase inequality. Controlling for economic factors, there appears to have been little independent role for factors such as racism or xenophobia in driving the retreat from liberal migration policies. A statistical analysis of individual voter attitudes towards immigration in the late XXthcentury leads to somewhat different conclusions: nationalism is strongly associated with more hostile attitudes towards immigrants. Heckscher-Ohlin theory and the Borjas theory of immigrant self-selection also help explain individual voter attitudes.

Once more: When did globalisation begin?

2004
|
Journal article
|
European Review of Economic History

When did globalisation begin?

2004
|
Journal article
|
European Review of Economic History
Some world historians attach globalisation ‘big bang’ significance to 1492 and 1498. Such scholars are on the side of Adam Smith who believed that these were the two most important events in recorded history. Other world historians insist that globalisation stretches back even earlier. There is a third view which argues that the world economy was fragmented and completely de-globalised before the early nineteenth century. None of these three competing views has distinguished explicitly between trade expansion driven by booming import demand or export supply, and trade expansion driven by the integration of markets between trading economies. This article makes that distinction, and shows that there is no evidence supporting the view that the world economy was globally integrated prior to the 1490s; there is also no evidence supporting the view that this decade had the trading impact that world historians assign to it; but there is abundant evidence supporting the view that a very big globalisation bang took place in the 1820s.

Heckscher-Ohlin Theory and Individual Attitudes Towards Globalization

2003
|
Scholarly edition
The aim of the paper is to see whether individuals’ attitudes towards globalization are consistent with the predictions of Heckscher-Ohlin theory. The theory predicts that the impact of being skilled or unskilled on attitudes towards trade and immigration should depend on a country’s skill endowments, with the skilled being less anti-trade and antiimmigration in more skill-abundant countries (here taken to be richer countries) than in more unskilled-labour-abundant countries (here taken to be poorer countries). These predictions are confirmed, using survey data for 24 countries. The high-skilled are pro-globalization in rich countries; while in some of the very poorest countries in the sample being high-skilled has a negative (if statistically insignificant) impact on pro-globalization sentiment. More generally, an interaction term between skills and GDP per capita has a negative impact in regressions explaining anti-globalization sentiment. Furthermore, individuals view protectionism and anti-immigrant policies as complements rather than as substitutes, as they would do in a simple Heckscher-Ohlin world
globalization, attitudes, survey data, Hecksher-Ohlin theory.

The end of globalization: Lessons from the great depression.

2003
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE

Cities and Specialization: Evidence from South Asia

2003
|
Scholarly edition
Theories of city formation typically revert around agglomeration externalities driven by returns to specialization. Using survey data from Nepal, we test these theories by examining the relationship between proximity to urban centers and the organization of labor. We show that wards located in and near cities have more diversified and more market oriented activities. This suggests returns to specialization harnessed through the market. Wage work, work away from home, and unemployment are more prevalent in and around cities. These effects are felt up to four hours of travel time from large cities. We also find evidence of a weak relationship between city size and firm size. Urban specialization, however, does not extend to household chores. Urbanization is associated with lower female labor market participation and with specialization of women in market-related activities or strictly home-based chores.
R12, 018, spatial specialization, urbanization, household chores

Commodity market integration, 1500-2000

2003
|
Chapter
|
Globalization in Historical Perspective
Commercial products

Long-distance trade: long-distance trade between 1750 and 1914

2003
|
Chapter
|
Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History

Game Harmony as a Predictor of Cooperation in 2 x 2 Games

2002
|
Scholarly edition
This paper presents an experimental test of the relationship between game harmony and cooperation in 2 x 2 games. Game harmony measures describe how harmonious (non-conflictual) or disharmonious (conflictual) the interests of players are, as embodied in the payoffs: coordination games and constant-sum games are examples of games of perfect harmony and disharmony, respectively, with most games being somewhere in the middle. In our experiment we consider a variety of 2 x 2 games, including amongst others the Prisoner`s Dilemma, the Stag-Hunt, the Chicken, a coordination game and three variants of trust games. We find that simple game harmony measures can explain 2/3 (or more) or the variance in mean cooperation rate across these games.
C72, C91, H41, game harmony, cooperation, 2 x 2 games, trust games, social dilemmas.

AFTER COLUMBUS: EXPLAINING EUROPE'S OVERSEAS TRADE BOOM, 1500 1800

2002
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

After Columbus: Explaining Europe's overseas trade boom, 1500-1800

2002
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

After Columbus: Explaining the global trade boom, 1500-1800

2002
|
Conference paper
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

When did globalisation begin?

2002
|
Journal article
|
EUROPEAN REVIEW OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends

2002
|
Journal article
|
Aussenwirtschaft

Europe and the causes of globalization, 1790-2000

2002
|
Chapter
|
From Europeanization of the Globe to the Globalization of Europe

Globalization and inequality: Historical trends

2002
|
Conference paper
|
ANNUAL WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS 2001/2002

The Heckscher-Ohlin model between 1400 and 2000: when it explained factor price convergence, when it did not, and why

2002
|
Chapter
|
Bertil Ohlin: A Centennial Celebration 1899-1999
Convergence (Economics)

Commodity Market Integration, 1500-2000

2001
|
Journal article

Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy

2001
|
Book
Globalization is not a new phenomenon; nor is it irreversible. In Globalization and History, Kevin O'Rourke and Jeffrey Williamson present a coherent picture of trade, migration, and international capital flows in the Atlantic economy in the century prior to 1914--the first great globalization boom. The book's originality lies in its application of the tools of open-economy economics to this critical historical period--differentiating it from most previous work, which has been based on closed-economy or single-sector models. The authors also keep a close eye on globalization debates of the 1990s, using history to inform the present and vice versa.
F41, N73, N71, globalization, Atlantic economy, open-economy economics

What Determines Attitudes Towards Protection? Some Cross-Country Evidence

2001
|
Chapter
|
Brookings Trade Forum

British Trade Policy in the 19th Century: A Review Article

2000
|
Journal article
|
European Journal of Political Economy

Irish inflation: appropriate policy responses

2000
|
Journal article
|
Irish Banking Review

Much Ado about Nothing? Italian Trade Policy in the Late 19th Century

2000
|
Chapter
|
The Mediterranean Response to Globalization before 1950
The studies in this exceptional volume explore the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization events prior to 1950, and identify how countries around the Mediterranean responded to them. In addition to comparative assessments of regional performance, the volume offers detailed case studies of Spain, Italy, the Balkans, Turkey, Israel and Egypt.
International trade

A Social Accounting Matrix for Italy, 1911

2000
|
Journal article
|
Rivista di Storia Economica

Tariffs and growth in the late 19th century

2000
|
Journal article
|
The Economic Journal
The paper estimates the correlation between tariffs and economic growth in the late 19th century, in the context of three types of growth equation: unconditional convergence equations; conditional convergence equations; and factor accumulation models. It does so for a panel of ten countries between 1875 and 1914. Tariffs were positively correlated with growth in these countries during this period.

Tariffs and Growth in the Late 19th Century.

2000
|
Journal article
|
The Economic Journal
The paper estimates the correlation between tariffs and economic growth in the late 19th century, in the context of three types of growth equation: unconditional convergence equations; conditional convergence equations; and factor accumulation models. It does so for a panel of ten countries between 1875 and 1914. Tariffs were positively correlated with growth in these countries during this period.

Globalization in Historical Perspective

2000
|
Chapter
|
Globalization and Unemployment
Together with the Internet, globalization has become the symbol of economic life in the 1990s, to the extent that both have become cliches in public discourse; but while the Internet is indisputably new, globalization has been an ongoing process for centuries. Indeed, as this chapter will show, globalization was further advanced along some (but by no means all) dimensions in the late 19th century than it is today. Further, while pundits, now as then, have tended to extrapolate the immediate past into the indefinite future, and have predicted the ever-increasing integration of the international economy, history shows that globalization can be reversed. All economic change produces losers as well as winners, and if the losers are not adequately compensated, and are sufficiently powerful politically, then they may use the political process to undo those changes which they dislike most. This is not just a theoretical concern. While the First World War was undoubtedly the key force dissolving the economic relationships which had linked nations and continents in the decades since 1850, a retreat from liberal economic policies had already begun, certainly by the 1880s or 1890s. This retreat can be clearly linked to the distributional consequences of globalization, at least in the cases of commodity trade (O’Rourke (1997); O’Rourke and Williamson (1999), Chapter 6) and labor migration (Timmer and Williamson (1998); O’Rourke and Williamson (1999), Chapter 10).

Globalization in historical perspective

2000
|
Scholarly edition

Irish inflation : appropriate policy responses

2000
|
Scholarly edition
This article argues that the cost increasing, supply side approach cannot adequately explain the current Irish inflation. It suggests that the correct model is one that is based on excess demand fuelled by continuing economic growth and demand-side shocks, including nominal exchange rate depreciation and lax budgetary policy. Evidence is presented to suggest that inflationary pressures have been building up in the economy for longer than is generally appreciated. As for appropriate policy responses, these include nominal wage increases above those agreed under the PPF but exclude tax cuts which, at the time of writing, seem likely to emerge in the December 2000 Budget.
Inflation (Finance)--Ireland, Ireland--Economic policy

Irish inflation : appropriate policy responses.

2000
|
Scholarly edition
This article argues that the cost increasing, supply side approach cannot adequately explain the current Irish inflation. It suggests that the correct model is one that is based on excess demand fuelled by continuing economic growth and demand-side shocks, including nominal exchange rate depreciation and lax budgetary policy. Evidence is presented to suggest that inflationary pressures have been building up in the economy for longer than is generally appreciated. As for appropriate policy responses, these include nominal wage increases above those agreed under the PPF but exclude tax cuts which, at the time of writing, seem likely to emerge in the December 2000 Budget.
Inflation (Finance)--Ireland, Ireland--Economic policy, X-PublishedAs-Type: article X-PublishedAs-Journal: Irish Banking Review X-PublishedAs-Year: 2000 X-PublishedAs-Volume: X-PublishedAs-Pages: 33-47

Living Standards and Growth

2000
|
Chapter
|
The Economy of Ireland: Policy and Performance of a European Region
Ireland is a small, open economy, heavily integrated with the British economy as well as an enthusiastic and fully active member of the European Union. How it is influenced by and responds to these circumstances is central to an understanding of its economy. This book provides an account of the main features, performance and associated policy issues of the economy of Ireland in the 1990s. The book opens with an extensive chapter outlining the historical development of the Irish economy from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Living standards and growth

2000
|
Scholarly edition
Cost and standard of living--Ireland, Economic development--Ireland

Living Standards and Growth.

2000
|
Scholarly edition
Why did the West grow so rapidly over the last 500 years, while much of therest of the world stagnated? And why several countries, especially in East Asia, grown so fast over the last half-century? If we can understand these growth experiences, and identify the forces which made them possible, we will be a lot closer to understanding what it is that poor countries today must do is they are to escape poverty. More modestly, we will be better able to judge Ireland's growth performance since World War II, and think about the reasons why it underperformed for so long, before succeeding so spectacularly in the 1990s.
I31, D63, O40, O10, ECONOMIC GROWTH, SOCIAL WELFARE, POVERTY

O'Hagan, J.W. (ed.). The economy of Ireland : policy and performance of a European region.

2000
|
Scholarly edition
Cost and standard of living--Ireland, Economic development--Ireland, X-PublishedAs-Type: chapter

Were Trade and Factor Mobility Substitutes in History?

1999
|
Chapter
|
Migration: The Controversies and the Evidence
Trade theorists have come to understand that their theory is ambiguous on the question: Are trade and factor flows substitutes?
Capital movements

Culture, Politics and Innovation: Creamery Diffusion in late 19th Century Denmark and Ireland.

1999
|
Scholarly edition
This paper tries to be the first step in a systematic comparison of economic growth in Denmark and Ireland between 1870 and 1939. Section 2 ofthis paper sets the scene by discussing broader trends of living standards and agricultural productivity. Section 3 outlines the developments in the dairying industry which is so disturbed contemporary Irishmen. Section 4 surveys the large contemporary and historical literature dealing with the causes of relative Irish failure. Section 5 uses evidence on the diffuson of creamery cooperatives across Irish counties to asses some of these arguments.
Q16, O32, N53, N54, ECONOMIC HISTORY, AGRICULTURE, INNOVATIONS

Economic Integration and Convergence: and Historical Perspective

1999
|
Journal article
|
Journal of Economic Integration
Theory is ambiguous as to how globalization influences the relative performances of rich and poor countries. This paper surveys some recent literature on the historical links between international commodity and factor market integration and convergence. Focussing on the late 19th century, a period both of globalization and convergence, it shows that trade had and important impact on factor prices in some countries, just as Heckscher and Ohlin would have predicted. Migration was however a more important force for convergence during this period, while international capital flows led to both convergence and divergence. The analysis suggests that more attention should be paid to open economy forces when discussing convergence.
F02, Economic, Integration

The Heckscher-Ohlin Model Between 1400 and 2000: When it Explained Factor Price Convergence, Ehen it Did not, and Why.

1999
|
Scholarly edition
This is a paper about intercontinental trade, since factor proportions differ far more between continents than within. Long distance intercontinental trade was also the economic event which motivated the theoretical work of Bertil Ohlin.
F10, N70, ECONOMIC HISTORY, INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Culture, Malthus, and Irish Demographic History

1998
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

Monetary Data and Proxy GDP Estimates: Ireland 1840–1921

1998
|
Journal article
|
Irish Economic and Social History

The European Grain Invasion, 1870–1913

1997
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History
The article quantifies the impact of cheap grain on the European economy in the late nineteenth century. Falling transport costs led to dramatic declines in Anglo-American grain price gaps, but price convergence was less impressive between the U.S. and other European economies, and within Europe. Cheaper grain meant lower rents throughout Europe, and protection boosted rents, but the magnitudes involved differed between countries. Similarly, cheap grain increased real wages in Britain, but lowered them elsewhere. The grain invasion implied different shocks across countries, and this partly explains the varying trade policies pursued in Europe during this period.

Around the European Periphery 1870 1913: Globalization, Schooling and Growth

1997
|
Journal article
|
European Review of Economic History
On average, the poor European periphery converged on the rich industrial core in the four or five decades prior to the First World War. Some, like the three Scandinavian economies, used industrialization to achieve a spectacular convergence on the leaders, especially in real wages and living standards. Some, like Ireland, seemed to do it without industrialization. Some, like Italy, underwent a less spectacular catch-up, and it was limited to the industrializing North. Some, like Iberia, actually fell back. What accounts for this variety? What role did trade and tariff policy play? What about emigration and capital flows? What about schooling? We offer a tentative assessment of these contending explanations and conclude that globalization was by far the dominant force accounting for convergence (and divergence) around the periphery. Some exploited it well, and some badly.

Measuring Protection: A Cautionary Tale

1997
|
Journal article
|
Journal of Development Economics
This paper comments on a theoretically based index of protection recently developed by Anderson and Neary. The index must be calculated within the context of a specific CGE model; Anderson and Neary propose a generic model, and have found that the index is robust to changes in the elasticities embedded within that model. Is the index also robust to changes in the specification of the model? The paper identifies one historical instance where the index is extremely sensitive to the specification of the model's demand side. There are important methodological lessons to be learnt from this example. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

After the famine: Irish agriculture, 1850-1914 - Turner,M

1997
|
Journal article
|
ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW

Migration as Disaster Relief: Lessons From the Great Irish Famine

1997
|
Journal article
|
European Review of Economic History
Mass emigration was one key feature of the Great Irish Famine which distinguishes it from today's famines. By bringing famine victims to overseas food supplies, it undoubtedly saved many lives. Poverty traps prevented those most in need from availing of this form of relief, however. Cross-county data show that the ratio of emigration to deaths was higher in richer than in poorer counties. Another key feature of the Famine emigration was that it was irreversible. The Famine thus had a permanent impact on Ireland's population in a transitory fashion. Famine emigration spurred post-Famine emigration by eliminating poverty traps; the result was a sustained decline in the Irish population, and a convergence of living standards both within Ireland and between Ireland and the rest of the world.

Monetary Data and Proxy GDP Estimates : Ireland 1840-1921.

1997
|
Scholarly edition
The paper collects the available Irish banking statistics from 1840 to 1921, and uses these to speculate about trends in living standards during the period. In particular, it estimates a velocity function for five countries using annual data from 1876 to 1913. It then uses this function to estimate Irish velocity, and hence Irish GDP, between 1864 and 1913.
O52 I31, IRELAND, ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, LIVING CONDITIONS

The European Grain Invasion 1870-1913.

1997
|
Scholarly edition
This paper is primarily concerned with the effects of cheap grain on European wages, profits and rents. it brings a quantitative focus to bear on the question, just as Knick Harley (1978, 1980, 1986) and others have examined the quantitative implications of the grain invasion for the new world. The paper polots the dimensions of the grain invasion in several European countries, and explores the extente to which protection succeded in insulating economies from this international commodity market shock.
F13 N53, EUROPE, AGRICULTURE, PROTECTIONISM, TARIFFS

Were Trade and Factor Mobility Substitutes in History?

1997
|
Scholarly edition
Trade theorists have come to understand that their theory is ambiguous on the question : Are trade and factor flows substitutes? This paper uses history to fill the gap.
F1 F2 N7, INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Reply to Ljungberg

1996
|
Journal article
|
Scandinavian Economic History Review
We are grateful to Jonas Ljungberg for his courteous and informative response to our pair of articles recently published in this Review.1 We will argue that Ljungberg has misunderstood our intention on one central point. Since other readers may share this misunderstanding, we are happy to set the record straight. We also take this opportunity to stress a second central point which characterizes our work in this Review.

Factor Price Convergence in the Late Nineteenth Century

1996
|
Journal article
|
International Economic Review
We examine a dramatic historical episode of factor price convergence in the late nineteenth century. Our focus is convergence between Old World and New, and the analysis centers on land and labor. Wage-rental ratios boomed in the Old World and collapsed in the New, moving the resource-rich, labor-scarce New World closer to the resource-scarce, labor-abundant Old World. We use econometrics and simulations to identify pro-convergence forces which include commodity price convergence, factor accumulation, and factor-saving biases. The results confirm that open-economy characteristics and international market integration are important sources of convergence.

Crafts, N.F.R. and Toniolo, G. (eds.). Economic growth in Europe since 1945.

1996
|
Scholarly edition
Ireland--Economic conditions, Ireland--Economic policy, X-PublishedAs-Type: chapter

Irish economic growth since 1945

1996
|
Scholarly edition
Ireland--Economic conditions, Ireland--Economic policy

Irish Economic Growth, 1945-1988

1996
|
Chapter
|
Economic Growth in Europe since 1945
Economic growth has made a welcome return to the headlines in the economics profession. Technical advances have made it possible to model the growth process rigorously in the presence of externalities and increasing returns, and this has spawned a vast literature formalizing many of the intuitions about growth previously held by applied economists and economic historians. Whether or not there are diminishing returns to capital, it seems clear that there are diminishing returns to theory, in this field at least. Theory urgently needs to be supplemented with empirical work, be it multicountry regressions or case studies, if the field is to retain its present vigour.

Erratum

1995
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

Late nineteenth-century anglo-American factor-price convergence: Were Heckscher and Ohlin right? (vol 54, pg 892, 1994)

1995
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Emigration and Living Standards in Ireland Since the Famine.

1995
|
Journal article
|
Journal of Population Economics
"Ireland experienced dramatic levels of emigration in the century following the Famine of 1845-1849. The paper surveys the recent cliometric literature on post-Famine emigration and its effects on Irish living standards. The conclusions are that the Famine played a significant role in unleashing the subsequent emigration; and that emigration was crucial for the impressive increase in Irish living standards which took place during the next 100 years."
Starvation, Environment, Conservation of Natural Resources, Demography, Population Dynamics, Emigration and Immigration, Economics, Developed Countries, Socioeconomic Factors, Food Supply, Population, Europe, Ireland

An economist looks at Catholic social teaching

1995
|
Journal article
|
Doctrine and Life

Conscience and the Economist

1995
|
Journal article
|
Doctrine and Life

DEMOCRACY AND INTERNATIONAL-TRADE - BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND THE UNITED-STATES, 1860-1990 - VERDIER,D

1995
|
Journal article
|
ECONOMIC JOURNAL

Education, globalization and catch-up: Scandinavia in the swedish mirror

1995
|
Journal article
|
Scandinavian Economic History Review
In a previous paper in this Review, we argued that the vast majority of Sweden’s spectacular catch-up on the late nineteenth century leaders was due to what today would be called globalization forces. Sweden’s catch-up on Britain and the United States between 1870 and World War I was due mostly to mass migration, international capital flows and trade. This paper asks two additional questions. First, how important was schooling to this performance compared with open economy forces? The answer is »modest«. Second, can the Swedish explanation be extended to the rest of Scandinavia? The answer is »yes«. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The Costs of International Economic Disintegration: Ireland in the 1930s

1995
|
Journal article
|
Research in Economic History

Open economy forces and late nineteenth century swedish catch-up. A quantitative accounting

1995
|
Journal article
|
Scandinavian Economic History Review
Sweden recorded very high growth rates between 1870 and 1913. In 1870 Swedish real wages were only 52 percent as high as in British, and 30 percent as high as in the USA. By 1910, Swedish real wages were 5 percent higher than British real wages, and 59 percent as high as US real wages. This paper estimates that over 60 percent of this impressive Swedish catch-up on Britain was due to open economy forces: International labour and capital mobility, and international trade. Almost 90 percent of Swedens’s catch-up on America was due to these same open economy forces. Swedish history thus suggests that the economic convergence literature should pay more attention to Wicksell, Heckscher and Ohlin. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Economic Growth: Performance and Explanations

1995
|
Chapter
|
The Economy of Ireland: Policy and Performance of a Small European Country
Ireland is a small, open economy, heavily integrated with the British economy as well as an enthusiastic and fully active member of the European Union. How it is influenced by and responds to these circumstances is central to an understanding of its economy. This book provides an account of the main features, performance and associated policy issues of the economy of Ireland in the 1990s.

Irish economic growth

1995
|
Scholarly edition
Ireland--Economic conditions, Economic development--Ireland

O'Hagan, J. W. (ed.). The economy of Ireland : policy and performance of a small European country.

1995
|
Scholarly edition
Ireland--Economic conditions, Economic development--Ireland, X-PublishedAs-Type: chapter

Open Economy Forces and Late 19th Century Scandinavian Catch-Up.

1995
|
Scholarly edition
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Late Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Factor-Price Convergence: Were Heckscher and Ohlin Right?

1994
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History
Due primarily to transport improvements, commodity prices in Britain and the United States tended to converge between 1870 and 1913. Heckscher and Ohlin, writing in 1919 and 1924, thought that these events should have contributed to factor-price convergence. It turns out that Heckscher and Ohlin were right: a significant share of the Anglo-American real-wage convergence was due to commodity-price convergence. It appears that this late nineteenth-century episode was the dramatic start of world-commodity and factor-market integration that continues today.

Mass Migration, Commodity Market Integration, and Real Wage Convergence The Late Nineteenth Century Atlantic Economy

1994
|
Chapter
|
Migration and the International Labor Market 1850-1939
International economic integration

Industrial Policy, Employment Policy and the Non-Traded Sector

1994
|
Journal article
|
Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland
This paper will critically examine the assumptions on which their [Irish policy makers] policies have been based, and suggest a more constructive role for government intervention. There are three quite distinct sections. The first section will outline the traditional theoretical basis for Irish government policy, and ask whether it makes sense.. The second section argues that the non-traded sector is the key to a country's competitiveness. The third section will investigate the effects on the Irish economy of opening up sectors, hitherto nontraded (due to government restrictions), to foreign competition. In particular, the employment effects of such a move are examined, using a computable general equilibrium model developed by the author, in collaboration with Kevin Denny and Aoife Hannan of UCD

The Development of Industrial Society in Ireland. Edited by J. H. Goldthorpe and C. T. Whelan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. vi, 470. $60.00.

1994
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL-SOCIETY IN IRELAND - GOLDTHORPE,JH, WHELAN,CT

1994
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Did Labor Flow Uphill? International Migration and Wage Rates in 20th Century Ireland

1994
|
Chapter
|
Labor Market Evolution: The Economic History of Market Integration, Wage Flexibility and the Employment Relation
How have modern labour markets developed? Both labour economists and economic historians agree that it is necessary to look at labour markets in their historical context. Labour Market Evolution does just this. The contributors examine the operation and development of labour markets in Western Europe and North America since 1500. They address the key questions in this complicated process using new quantitative evidence. First, how closely connected were geographically distant labour markets? Second, how flexible were markets in the past - did wages change in response to demand shocks? Did workers move across space and occupations in response to cyclical or seasonal conditions. Third, were relationships between employees and employers short-term or long-term? Why did relationships change, and what were the implications for the flexibility and integration of markets? In examining these factors, this volume draws on modern labour economic theory and up-to-date quantitative techniques to show how current traditions and systems have evolved.

Did the Great Irish Famine Matter?

1994
|
Chapter
|
The Economic Development of Ireland Since 1870
In The Economic Development of Ireland since 1870 Cormac O'Grada presents a carefully chosen set of articles and papers which assess the economic history of Ireland from the after effects of the Great Famine to protectionism in the 1930s and Ireland's membership of the European Monetary System in the 1980s. The set includes a comprehensive introduction specially written by the editor which surveys the literature and indicates key themes and trends.
Business & Economics

The Economic Impact of the Famine in the Short and Long Run.

1994
|
Journal article
|
The American Economic Review

Property Transactions in Ireland, 1708-1988: an Introduction

1994
|
Journal article
|
Irish Economic and Social History

The Impact of Emigration on Real Wages in Ireland, 1850-1914

1994
|
Chapter
|
Migration and the International Labor Market 1850-1939

The Repeal of the Corn Laws and Irish Emigration

1994
|
Journal article
|
Explorations in Economic History
If the corn laws had not been repealed, grain prices would have been higher throughout the United Kingdom than they actually were. This in turn would have implied higher agricultural employment in Ireland. The paper estimates counter-factual "No Repeal" price series for grains in the United Kingdom and then uses a model of Irish agricultural labor demand to calculate how much higher Irish agricultural employment in the 1870s would have been in the absence of repeal. The paper finds that repeal did significantly reduce Irish agricultural employment. © 1994 Academic Press. All rights reserved.

Industrial Development and Irish National Identity, 1922–1939. By Mary E. Daly. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1992. Pp. xv, 201. $34.94.

1993
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

INDUSTRIAL-DEVELOPMENT AND IRISH NATIONAL IDENTITY, 1922-1939 - DALY,ME

1993
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Land, Labor and the Wage-Rental Ratio Factor Price Convergence in the Late Ninteenth Century.

1993
|
Scholarly edition
prices, labour, economic theory

Mass Migration, Commodity Market Integration, and Real Wage Convergence: The Late Nineteenth Century Atlantic Economy.

1993
|
Scholarly edition
migration, wages

Why Ireland Emigrated: a Positive Theory of Factor Flows

1992
|
Journal article
|
Oxford Economic Papers
Why did labor flow from Ireland to Britain in the nineteenth century when capital could have moved in the opposite direction? This paper addresses this question in a general two-country trade theoretic framework, linking it with the contemporary debate about the relative quality of emigrants and those who stayed behind. Dividing the population into shirkers and nonshirkers, it can be shown (given certain assumptions) that all nonshirkers migrate to the capital abundant country and that capital may flow in the same direction as labor. A switch from cottage industry to the factory system may have initiated such factor flows. Copyright 1992 by Royal Economic Society.

Were Heckscher and Olin right? : putting history back into the factor-price equalization

1992
|
Scholarly edition
Due primarily to transport improvements, commodity prices in Britain and America tended to equalize 1870-1913. This commodity price equalization was not simply manifested by the great New World grain invasion of Europe. Rather, it can be documented for intermediate primary products and manufactures as well. Heckscher and, Ohlin, writing in 1919 and 1924, thought that these events should have contributed to factor price equalization. Based on Williamson's research reported elsewhere, Anglo-American real wages did converge over this period, and it was part of a general convergence between the Old and New World. This paper applies the venerable Heckscher-Ohlin trade model to the late 19th century Anglo-American experience and finds that they were right: at least half of the real wage convergence observed can be assigned to commodity price equalization. Furthermore, these events also had profound influences on relative land and capital scarcities. It appears that this late 19th century episode was the dramatic start of world commodity and factor market integration that is still ongoing today.
Heckscher-Ohlin principle, Great Britain--Commerce--United States, United States--Commerce--Great Britain, Commodity exchanges

Were Heckscher and Olin Right? Putting History Back into the Factor-Price Equalization Theorem.

1992
|
Scholarly edition
commodities, trade, manufacturing industries, economic theory

AGRICULTURAL CHANGE AND RURAL DEPOPULATION - IRELAND, 1845-1876

1991
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

Agricultural Change and Rural Depopulation: Ireland, 1845–1876

1991
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

Burn Everything British but their Coal: the Anglo-Irish Economic War of the 1930s

1991
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

THE 2-SECTOR GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM-MODEL - A NEW APPROACH - DINWIDDY,CL, TEAL,FJ

1991
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE

DID THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE MATTER

1991
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

AN ECONOMIC-HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE IN NORTHERN-IRELAND - ARMSTRONG,DL

1991
|
Journal article
|
AGRICULTURAL HISTORY

Burn Everything British but Their Coal: The Anglo-Irish Economic War of the 1930s

1991
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History
The Anglo-Irish Economic War of 1932 to 1938 was eventually settled on terms highly favorable to the Irish. This article uses a computational general equilibrium model of the interwar Irish economy to argue that the welfare costs of the war were not so great as has been thought, and that the dispute helped de Valera electorally. These considerations help explain the eventual Irish “victory” in the Economic War. © 1991, The Economic History Association. All rights reserved.

COMMERCIAL-POLICY AND THE CURRENT ACCOUNT - A MUSSA-NEARY APPROACH

1991
|
Journal article
|
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW

Rural Depopulation in a Small Open Economy: Ireland 1856-1876

1991
|
Journal article
|
Explorations in Economic History
The paper asks whether Irish emigration between 1856 and 1876 was due to labor being pulled out of Ireland by higher wages abroad, or to labor being pushed off the land as a result of price shocks in international commodity markets favoring pasture over tillage. A computational general equilibrium model of the Irish agricultural sector is constructed and subjected to the wage and price shocks experienced by the economy over the period. The model suggests that all the rural depopulation occurring during this period was due to wage shocks (i.e., foreign labor demand), and none to commodity price shocks. © 1991.

The non-traded and service sectors: misconceptions and issues

1991
|
Chapter
|
The Economy of Ireland

THE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY IN IRELAND, 1922-1973 - PRESS,J

1990
|
Journal article
|
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

The Footwear Industry in Ireland, 1922–1973. By Jon Press. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1989. Pp. 229. $39.50.

1990
|
Journal article
|
The Journal of Economic History

International Migration and Wage rates in Twentieth Century Ireland.

1990
|
Scholarly edition
migration, labour market, wages

THE COSTS OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DISINTEGRATION: IRELAND IN THE 1930'S

1990
|
Scholarly edition
trade barriers, social welfare, international trade, labour market

A POSITIVE THEORY OF FACTOR FLOWS.

1989
|
Scholarly edition
economic theory, emigrants, human resources, capital, labour

DID THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE MATTER?.

1989
|
Scholarly edition
employment, agriculture, population, prices

Tariffs and the current account with short-run capital specificity

1989
|
Journal article
|
Economics Letters
Permanent tariff reductions are shown to result in a deterioration of the current account, even under intertemporal optimising by consumers. This is due to the assumption of short-run fixity and long-run mobility of capital. © 1989.

THE CAUSES OF DEPOPULATION IN A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY: IRELAND 1856-1876.

1989
|
Scholarly edition
population, open economy, emigration, labour, demand, prices, agriculture
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