Whether fixed factors such as land constrain per-capita income growth depends crucially on two variables: the substitutability of fixed factors in production, and the extent to which innovation is biased towards land-saving technologies. This paper attempts to quantify both. Using the timing of...

This article defines impact assessment and evaluation while comparing three different approaches. First, randomized evaluations or random control trials, which aim to maximize quantitative accuracy and solve selection bias. Second, non-experimental methods, where randomization is not possible....

The water-mill, though known in the Roman Empire from the second century BCE, did not come to enjoy any widespread use until the 4th or 5th centuries CE, and then chiefly in the West, which was then experiencing not only a rapid decline in the supply of slaves, but also widespread depopulation,...

This paper reviews and develops a theoretical and empirical representation of economic incentives for the implementation of pollution control strategies. A number of alternative available economic instruments may be thought of which, if applied internationally, could encourage implementation of...

This historical episode is one of a profound transformation of this trade sector that between the end of the 17th century and the middle of the following one, namely the emergence and strengthening of the position of the British merchants in detriment to the competitive position of the merchants...

In this paper we introduce a new source of data to economic history: palynological data, i.e. information about pollen grains which are preserved in bottom sediments of various water basins. We discuss how this data is collected and how it should be interpreted; develop new methods for aggregating...

In the early 19th century coal mining in the region of Aachen (Prussian Rhine Province) developed to an industrial scale within few decades production was mechanised and new types of industrial organization emerged that allowed for concentration on production and economies of scale. The region...

What factors caused the persecution of minorities in medieval and early modern Europe? We build a model that predicts that minority communities were more likely to be expropriated in the wake of negative income shocks. We then use panel data consisting of 785 city-level expulsions of Jews from...

This paper discusses the development of environmental economics from the Industrial Revolution in Europe to today. Specifically, it comments on the general similarities and differences between the representatives of the schools of economic thought concerning the environment. Among others, the...