"During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this...

"During the Industrial Revolution technological progress and innovation became the main drivers of economic growth. But why was Britain the technological leader? We argue that one hitherto little recognized British advantage was the supply of highly skilled, mechanically able craftsmen who were...

The Handbook of Cliometrics is a milestone in the field of historical economics and econometric history through its emphasis on the concrete contribution of cliometrics to our knowledge in economics and history. The articles in the handbook, authored by the leading scholars in the fields, stress...

Family reconstitution data: a cliometric view -- History of cliometrics -- Growth theories -- Cliometric approaches to war -- GDP and convergence in modern times -- Cliometrics and the great depression -- Financial Systems -- Cliometric approaches to international trade -- Time series -- The...

Family reconstitution data: a cliometric view -- History of cliometrics -- Growth theories -- Cliometric approaches to war -- GDP and convergence in modern times -- Cliometrics and the great depression -- Financial Systems -- Cliometric approaches to international trade -- Time series -- The...

Modern economic growth started in the West in the early nineteenth century. This survey discusses the precise connection between the Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of growth, and connects it to the intellectual and economic factors underlying the growth of useful knowledge. The...

This chapter surveys the history of modern economic growth and suggests a number of mechanisms that drove the unprecedented technological thrust that account for the discontinuities of economic modernity. The Industrial Revolution and the subsequent developments did not just raise the level of...