Using the framework of Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg (forthcoming), we present a model of spatial takeoff that is calibrated using spatially-disaggregated occupational data for England in c.1710. The model predicts changes in the spatial distribution of agricultural and manufacturing employment...

The Uzawa (1961) theorem applied to finance and growth suggests that a long-run positive correlation between financial efficiency and depth is only present when variations in the extent of access to financial services are considered. Improvements in financial efficiency can lead to new capital...

We present a survey of the finance-growth nexus that raises a number of qualifications to the mainstream interpretation. Doubts regarding empirical consensus are investigated and we consider the prevalence of cross-section econometrics as dominant in shaping the present theoretical consensus. To...

We develop a parsimonious finance and endogenous growth model with microeconomic frictions in entrepreneurship and a role for credit constraints. We demonstrate that though an efficiency-growth relation will always exist, the efficiency-depth-growth relation may not. This has implications for...

Growth models which imply a scale effect are commonly refuted on the basis of empir?ical evidence. A focus on the extent of the market as opposed to the scale of the country has led recent studies to reconsider the role that country scale plays when conditioning on other factors. We consider a...

That financial matters did not constrain industrial takeoff in the UK is generally accepted in the historical literature; in contrast, contemporary empirical analyses have found evidence that financial development can be a causal determinant of economic growth. We look to reconcile these findings...

The quality of contracting institutions has been thought to be of second-order importance next to the impact that good property rights institutions can have on long-run growth. Using a large range of proxies for each type of institution, we find a robust negative link between the quality of...

There is a large and growing literature on the relationship between financial development and economic growth. It suggests a positive causal link running from finance to growth. We consider, in broad terms, the existing historical evidence on this connection. We demonstrate that constraints on...

This paper proposes a simple model for understanding transaction costs – their composition, size and policy implications. We distinguish between investments in institutions that facilitate exchange and the cost of conducting exchange itself. Institutional quality and market size are...