The ageing of the population presents a major fiscal challenge for the countries of Europe. The combination of …

This paper documents that the Rise of (Western) Europe between 1500 and 1850 is largely accounted for by the growth of …. Atlantic trade and colonialism affected Europe both directly, and indirectly by inducing institutional changes. In particular …, thus enabling new merchants in these countries to benefit from Atlantic trade. Therefore, the Rise of Europe was largely …

We revisit Western Europe's record with labor-productivity convergence, and tentatively extrapolate its implications … for the future path of Eastern Europe. The poorer Western European countries caught up with the richer ones through both … Eastern Europe the employment share of agriculture is typically quite large, and agriculture is particularly unproductive …