The partitioning of Africa by European imperial powers in the late 19th century irreversibly transformed the long-term development trajectories of African economies. Yet, the motives for, and timing of, the scramble remain poorly understood. This column argues that the changes in African Continue reading “Column: An Economic Rationale for the African Scramble”
ABSTRACT: We develop new aggregate and sectoral Total Factor Productivity (TFP) estimates for the United States between 1899 and 1941 through better coverage of sectors and better measured labor quality, and show TFP-growth was lower than previously thought, broadly based across sectors Continue reading “Working Paper: A Vision of the Growth Process in a Technologically Progressive Economy”
ABSTRACT: This is the first study to present a unified quantitative account of African commodity trade in the long 19th century from the zenith of the Atlantic slave trade (1790s) to the eve of World War II (1939). Drawing evidence from a new dataset Continue reading “Working Paper: An Economic Rationale for the African Scramble”
ABSTRACT: This article re-examines how and when the USA closed the gap and ultimately overtook the UK in terms of both labour productivity and real income. On the basis of a set of sectoral productivity benchmarks for the year 1910 Continue reading “Article: Taking Over”
ABSTRACT: The debate concerning the exact timing and causes of changes in economic leadership constitutes one of the central themes in economic history. This study aims to improve the measurement of economic performance in the United States and Western Europe Continue reading “Article: Changing Economic Leadership”
ABSTRACT: This paper offers a direct industry-of-origin benchmark for the United States and the United Kingdom around 1910. The industry-of-origin approach allows for a disaggregation of international productivity differentials Continue reading “Working Paper: Taking Over”
ABSTRACT: A recent study in American economic history has shown that the 1930s, though scarred by relentless unemployment, mass migration and profound social and cultural change, were far from gloomy in terms of technological and business innovation. In light of these dynamic productivity developments Continue reading “Dissertation: The Roaring Thirties”
De crisis die de wereldeconomie in 2008 trof stond op gelijke voet met datgene wat de Grote Depressie van de jaren dertig inleidde. In de 12 maanden na de economische piek van 2008 daalde de industriële productie net zoveel als gedurende het eerste jaar van de Grote Depressie. De aandelenkoersen en de wereldhandel daalden zelfs meer. Toch lijkt het erop dat een echte depressie deze keer is vermeden. Continue reading “Column: The Roaring Thirties [dutch]”
ABSTRACT: America’s lead over Europe in manufacturing productivity from the late nineteenth century onwards has often been contributed to differences in initial conditions, trapping Europe in a relatively declining, labor-intensive and low-productive technological path. In this paper, I reassess the productivity dynamics in British manufacturing Continue reading “Working Paper: The Great Escape”
ABSTRACT: During the interwar period the manufacturing productivity gap between the US and the UK became much larger than existing estimates suggest. In this article a new comparison of US/UK productivity levels for 1935 is presented, utilizing a more rigorous Continue reading “Article: Depression Dynamics”
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a new benchmark of output and relative prices (PPPs) for agriculture, mining and five manufacturing branches in the US, UK, France and the Netherlands around 1910. Continue reading “Working Paper: Comparing Productivity in the Netherlands, France, UK and US, ca. 1910”
ABSTRACT: The manufacturing productivity gap between the U.S. and the U.K. became much larger during the interwar period than existing estimates suggest. This paper presents a new estimate based on real value added and hours worked. Continue reading “Working Paper: A Comparison of Real Output and Productivity for British and American Manufacturing in 1935”
