Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. But since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback...

Spanish Abstract: A partir de la historiografía más destacada, este artículo revisa la historia económica de la región antioqueña durante el periodo 1760-1810, mostrando los cambios más significativos de las estructuras y, en particular, de las relaciones dinámicas entre los diferentes...

How an empire that seemed cohesive for hundreds of years could easily fragment in a decade? I present a simple computational model of Spain's political economy and do some simulations that could help explain the rationale behind such system. I also provide an analytical narrative in which I...

This article examines the relationship between colonialism and technology transfer via the study of nineteenth century Cuban institutions dedicated to the stimulation of innovative activity, particularly the patent system. Preliminary findings suggest three noteworthy claims. First, during the...

This paper studies the effect of expanding internet access on electoral outcomes at the municipality level in Colombia. I use a difference-in-differences strategy that compares electoral outcomes in municipalities that received the internet right before the presidential election, with those that...

La historia económica de Panamá durante el siglo XIX es bastante desconocida en Colombia y la de sus cuentas fiscales es un laberinto difícil de entender. Esta investigación enfrenta ambos problemas, recurriendo a la demografía, a la geografía y a los presupuestos del Estado Soberano de...

Los ministros Néstor Luis Pérez (1936-1938) y Manuel Rafael Egaña (1938-1941 y 1949) en el gobierno de López Contreras (1936-1941) hicieron importantes contribuciones al desarrollo del marco institucional petrolero después de la muerte de Gómez en diciembre de 1935. La gestión de estos...

This paper explores the connections between independence and Latin America’s relative decline during the half a century after independence. The release of the fiscal burden was partly offset by higher costs of self-government, while opening up to the international economy represented a...

With the exception of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade integration is still modest in Latin America, at around 20% of total trade. Surprisingly, these levels were higher in 1945, when the figure for imports stood at 25.6%. Paradoxically, this result shows that trade...

Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. But since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback...