The Great Divergence Reconsidered

Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-107-67997-9
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 243 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 360 g

In stark contrast to popular narratives, The Great Divergence Reconsidered shows that Europe's rise to an undisputed world economic leader was not the effect of the Industrial Revolution, and cannot be explained by coal or colonial exploitation. Using a wealth of new historical evidence stretching from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, Roman Studer shows that this 'Great Divergence' must be shifted back to the seventeenth century, if not earlier. Europe was characterized by a more powerful transportation system, bigger trade flows, larger and better integrated markets, higher productivity levels, and superior living standards even before the Industrial Revolution brought about far-reaching structural changes and made Europe's supremacy even more pronounced. While the comparison with Europe draws significantly on India, the central conclusions seem to hold for Asia - and indeed the rest of the world - more generally. An interplay of various factors best explains Europe's early and gradual rise, including better institutions, favorable geographical features, increasing political stability, and increasingly rapid advances in science and technology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Studer, Roman

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Industrielle Organisation
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Geschichte der VWL
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Entwicklungspolitik, Nord-Süd Beziehungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction; 2. Determinants of market integration; 3. Gauging the level of market integration; 4. Geography and the story of the many Europes; 5. Markets versus climate in Europe and India; 6. Economic integration in India and Europe; 7. Conclusions.

Über Autor(innen)

Studer, Roman
Roman Studer has worked both in academia and in the private sector, and he is currently the chief operating officer of the UBS International Center of Economics in Society at Universität Zürich. He was a postdoctoral prize research fellow at the University of Oxford and then a lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was awarded the Alexander Gerschenkron Prize by the Economic History Association for the best dissertation in international economic history.