Historically, productivity growth was not all about high tech sectors and research and development (R&D) expenditure. A new study published The Economic Journal finds that the great majority of productivity originated in other, more ‘run-of-the-mill’ industries. Continue reading “Column: Historical Productivity Growth from Run of the Mill Industries”
ABSTRACT: A great deal of research in economics and business is devoted to the study of efficiency of individuals, organisations or entire economies. This chapter introduces a family of innovative techniques Continue reading “Chapter: Frontier Analysis”
This paper uses a new trade dataset showing that sub-Saharan Africa experienced a terms of trade boom in the five decades (1835–1885) preceding the European “scramble for Africa” which was comparable to similar export booms in other parts Continue reading “Column: An Economic Rationale for the West African Scramble?”
ABSTRACT: The African Commodity Trade Database (ACTD) aims to stimulate and deepen research on African and global economic history. The database provides export and import series at product level for more than two and a half centuries of African trade (1730-2010). Continue reading “Article: An Introduction to the African Commodity Trade Database, 1730-2010”
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 find TFP-growth was lower than previously thought, Continue reading “Working Paper: The Sources of Growth in a Technologically Progressive Economy”
The African Commodity Trade Database (ACTD) aims to stimulate and deepen research on African and global economic history. The database provides export and import series at product level for more than two and a half centuries of African trade (1737-2010). Continue reading “Dataset: African Commodity Trade Database”
ABSTRACT: We use a new trade dataset showing that nineteenth century Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a terms of trade boom comparable to other parts of the ‘global periphery’. A sharp rise in export prices in the five decades before the scramble (1835-1885) Continue reading “Article: An Economic Rationale for the West African Scramble?”
ABSTRACT: Using a newly constructed dataset on the quantities and prices of African commodities over the long 18th century this paper provides new insights into the changing nature of the non-slave trade with West Africa in the era before the abolition Continue reading “Working Paper: Commodities, Prices and Risk”
Pieter (Jop) WOLTJER 