This paper examines changes in the organization of the Spanish cotton industry from 1720 to 1860 in its core region of Catalonia. As the Spanish cotton industry adopted the most modern technology and experienced the transition to the factory system, cotton spinning and weaving mills became...

This paper explores the relationship between the nature of Spanish Savings banks and the extent of their market success during the twentieth century. It deals with the key factors that have made so good a performance possible, such as: their ability to promote private saving, to cooperate with...

Europe provides a suitable scenario for testing regularities of growth since its countries share to a large extent institutions, policies, and resource endowments. Patterns of development, that associate structural change to variations in GDP per head and population, are constructed for Europe...

Long run economic progress in modern Spain is assessed in this paper and its comparative performance placed in historical perspective. Over one and a half centuries, income per person rose 15 times. Three main phases can be established: 1850-1950, 1951-1974 and 1975-2000. The finding of growth...

This paper investigates when did retardation begin in Spain and examines the evidence on economic performance over three centuries. In contrast to earlier estimates that focus almost exclusively on Castilian agriculture we look at trends in urbanization as a measure of economic activity outside...

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...

La Casa de la Contratación fue creada por la Monarquía española en 1503 para controlar de forma exclusiva todas las actividades económicas entre España y América. ¿Fue una institución que promovió la actividad económica con los nuevos territorios americanos o, por el contrario, lo...

Spanish economic records in terms of GDP growth and convergence to European levels in the sixties, provide an excellent opportunity to look at a central question underlying in the interpretation of any process of economic growth. The relevance of industrial specific technological progress is...

The traditional literature about the Castilian agriculture has interpreted the sale of baldíos as one of the main causes of the decline of Castile during the seventeenth century. The sale obligated the peasant to buy the land if he wanted to continue working on it. Many of these lands were...

During the reign of Carlos II drastic monetary reform was carried out, which once and for all ended the tremendous monetary instability that took place in Castile throughout the whole Seventeenth century. Between 1680 and 1686, six monetary rules were adopted. The path chosen to attain the...