This paper offers a long-term analysis of agricultural labour productivity differences in Europe using econometric techniques. The results show the crucial importance of the land/labour ratio. The continuous exit of manpower from the sector, coupled with increased use of productive factors...

In the beginning of the 1890s, counties located in the Cotton Belt of the American South were hit by an agricultural plague, the boll weevil, that adversely affected cotton production and hence the demand for labor. We use variation in the incidence of the boll weevil multiplied with countiesÕ...

I analyze the age at death of 121,524 European nobles from 800 to 1800. Longevity began increasing long before 1800 and the Industrial Revolution, with marked increases around 1400 and again around 1650. Declines in violence contributed to some of this increase, but the majority must reflect...

This study investigates the relation of pre-railroad transport infrastructure on Westphalian grain market integration in the early 19th century. It is motivated by recently found indications of macroeconomic change in Prussia such as increased demand for labour, disappearance of positive...

Little is known about the empirical determinants of secessions, despite a rich theoretical literature on the subject. Economic theory predicts that the incentive to secede should be determined by the size of the seceding province, as well as preference heterogeneity, income inequality, the...

The consensus among legal and economic historians that British law between 1844 and 1914 provided little protection to corporate shareholders is based on formal provisions in the Companies Acts. In fact these Acts applied only to companies registered by the Board of Trade. Moreover corporate law...

In this paper I analyze the ÔNitrogen ParadoxÕ stated by Robert Allen in his interpretation of the English Agricultural Revolution as an adaptive response to the agro-climatic impacts of the last phase of the Little Ice Age. The colder and more humid climate during the second half of the 17th...

This research tests the long-standing hypothesis put forth by Lynn White, Jr. (1962) that the adoption of the heavy plough in Northern Europe was an important cause of economic development. White argued that it was impossible to take proper advantage of the fertile clay soils of Northern Europe...

Why did the establishment of cooperative creameries in late nineteenth century Ireland fail to halt the relative decline of her dairy industry compared to other emerging producers? This paper compares the Irish experience with that of the market leader, Denmark, and shows how each adopted the...

This research evaluates the impact of the introduction of clover and potatoes on urbanization using a panel of Danish market towns from 1672 to 1901. We find evidence that both clover and potatoes contributed to urbanization using a difference-in-difference type estimation strategy which...