This paper presents a schematic history of the global economy since 1800. The economic and political logic of global capitalism in this period is defined by its ability to derive a growing share of its energy from fossil fuels. The explosive growth of this period, the dominance of capital, the...

This paper seeks to explain Japan's competitiveness in terms of the character of her work-ethos formed in the Tokugawa era. Drawing on writings of European visitors to Japan from the 17th to 19th centuries, Japan's work-ethos is delineated in terms of a schema set out in the author's earlier work.

This paper reviews the growing body of evidence on the relative economic standing of different regions of the world in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In general, it does not find support for Eurocentric claims regarding Western Europe’s early economic lead. The Eurocentric...

This paper works out some of the basic properties of an economy with energy as a factor of production. The economy now consists of streams of energy conversions that direct energy to the production of goods and services. The focus on energy generates a variety of insights. It yields a new...

This paper proposes three tasks. It briefly delineates the character of the civilizing mission and the interests it served, especially the colonization of Asia and Africa. In addition, the claims of the civilizing mission and the neoclassical theory of trade are tested empirically by comparing...

We test the structuralist hypothesis that industrialization is growth enhancing due to inherent dynamic efficiences of externalities. We used four data sets ranging over different country samples and in all cases found industry’s contribution to economic growth significantly exceeded its share...

This paper tests Hirschman's hypothesis which suggests that relative labour productivity in LDCs vis a vis DCs may be higher in process-centered than in product-centered industries. This test makes allowances for comparisons to be made and similar wages in LDCs and DCs. The results do not...

This paper seeks to test Arthur Lewis' hypothesis of the dependence in the first stage of development, of the savings rate on the relative share of the capitalist sector. Using industry as a proxy for the capitalist sector, the results of our cross-country analysis provide strong confirmation of...

The development literature has long argued that industrialization generates dynamic efficiencies which result in cost-reduction and acceleration in savings or investment. This paper presents results which suggest that the level of industrial activity, as well as the growth rate, contribute to...