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This paper models externalities of production across regional economies. Under the assumption that knowledge diffuses without political or administrative barriers, we derive externalities that affect the steady state and the process of growth of each economy. The empirical counterpart of the reduced form equation summarizing the process of growth allows us to test for the presence of regional spillovers and to measure their magnitude. Our results for a sample of European regions show that spillovers are far from negligible, are robust to the consideration of variables within each region, and may cause nondecreasing returns at the spatial aggregate level. The paper also relates previous empirical evidence on spatial dependence in growth studies to the externalities modeled here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has highlighted that in the last few years, the evolution of regional disparities in many European states has become pro-cyclical. This represents a change with respect to the predominantly anti-cyclical pattern of the 1960s and 1970s. This paper addresses the question of whether and when this change has taken place in the southern periphery of Europe, before analysing the factors that may have played a role in such a change. The analysis relies on a regional database that includes the evolution of the GDP per capita of NUTS II regions in five European countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) between 1980 and 2000. The results of the analysis support the hypothesis of a change towards a pro-cyclical evolution of regional disparities in the cases of Italy, Portugal, and Spain, but not in those of Greece and France. A relationship between these pro-cyclical patterns and the emergence of less dynamic sheltered economies is also detected in peripheral regions. This lack of dynamism is related to the fact that numerous peripheral areas in southern Europe have become increasingly dependent on factors such as transfers or public investment and employment, and therefore are less exposed to changes in market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY It is the purpose of the present paper to replace the traditional theory of industrial stages by a better model based on the criteria of capital and control. In constructing the new model we became aware of the fact it is necessary to distinguish between 'capital'-intensive and 'capital'-extensive industries and again within the latter between those which worked for local consumption and for the export trade, respectively. Only for the 'capital'-extensive industries working for the export trade something like stages in the industrial development can be discovered. In fact, the stage reached in these industries in the eighteenth century brought them organizationally close to the older 'capital'-intensive industries, so that for that period we subsume both under the head of protofactory. The protofactory of the model based on capital and control shows the essential characteristics of the factory, although in reality there were some elements distinguishing the protofactory from the full-fledged factory. In the second section of the paper we describe in detail the organizational features of the protofactory after clearing up the etymological confusion in that ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Der Beitrag zielt darauf ab, die traditionelle Theorie der industriellen Stufen durch ein auf den Kriterien ≪Kapital≫ und ≪KontroIle≫ basierendes, besseres Modell zu ersetzen. Beim Aufbau dieses neuen Modells zeigte sich die Notwendig-keit einer Unterscheidung zwischen kapitahntensiven und kapitalextensiven Industrien, welche letztere wiederum unterteilt werden mussen in solche, die fiir den einheimischen Verbrauch arbeiten, und solche, die fiir den Export produ-zieren. Nur fiir die im Export tatigen kapitalextensiven Industrien lasst sich so etwas wie Stadien der industriellen Entwicklung entdecken. In der Tat brachte das Stadium, welches diese Industrien im 18. Jahrhundert erreicht hatten, sie organisatorisch in enge Verbindung zu den alteren, kapitahntensiven Industrien, so dass fiir jene Periode beide unter dem Oberbegriff'Ur-Fabrik' (protofactory) zusammengefasst werden konnen. Das auf ≪Kapital≫ und ≪K.ontrolle≫ aufge-baute Modell der Urfabrik bringt wesentliche Merkmale der Fabrik zum Aus-druck, obwohl sich in Wirklichkeit die Urfabrik von der fliigge gewordenen Fabrik in einigen Punkten unterschied. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit werden die organisatorischen Grundziige der Urfabrik im Detail beschrieben; zuvor wird die in diesem Bereich herrschende etymologische Verwirrung geklart. Abschliessend wird gezeigt, dass weder der im organisatorischen Aufbau der Industrie tatige Geschaftsmann noch der zeit-genossische Okonom erfasst hatten, was sich vor ihren Augen abspielte. Es brauchte Jahrzehnte, bis der Industrielle die Notwendigkeit regelmassiger Ab-schreibungen erkannte, und der klassische Okonom lehrte noch lange die inverse Korrelation zwischen Lohn und Profit und die Vcrschiebbarkeit des Kapitals von Industrie zu Industrie, nachdem diese beidenfiir das putting-out system typischen Wesensziige mit dem Erscheinen der Urfabrik verschwunden waren. RÉSUMÉ Cet article a pour but, de remplacer la théorie traditionelle des stades industriels par un modèle meilleur, basé sur les critères de capital et de contrǒ1e. En construisant ce nouveau modèle, nous nous rendons compte de la nécessité, de distinguer entre industries intensives en capital et celles extensives en capital et ces dernieres de nouveau, en celles qui travaillent pour la consommation interne, et celles qui produisent pour l'exportation. C'est uniquement pour les industries extensives en capital produisant pour l'exportation, qu'on peut d^couvrir des soi-disants stades du developpement industriels. En fait, le stade atteint dans ces industries au dix-huitieme siecle les amenait du point de vue de I'organisation en relation étroite avec les industries plus vieilles et intensives en capital, de facon a ce que pour cette periode, les deux pouvaient ětre résumés sous le terme de ≪protofabrique≫. La protofabrique du modele, basee sur le capital et le contrdle met en relief les principales caracteristiques de l'usine, malgre que la protofabrique se distingue en realite en beaucoup de points de l'usine evoluée. Dans la deuxieme partie de cet article, les elements organisateurs de la protofabrique sont decrits en detail, apres avoir eclairci les confusions etymologiques. Finalement l'auteur montre, que ni le commercant actif dans le developpement organisateur de l'industrie, ni l'economiste classique contemporain ont saisi ce qui se deroulait devant leurs yeux. II a fallu des dixaines d'annees jusqu'a ce que I'industriel reconnaisse Futility d'amortisations regulieres, et l'econome classique enseignait encore longtemps la correlation inverse entre le salaire et le profit et Pajustement du capital d'une industrie a l'autre, malgre que ces deux faits typiques par le 'putting-out system', avaient disparu avec l'apparition de la protofabrique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson have dramatically challenged the tendency of economists to confine their empirical search for the causes of economic growth to the recent past. They argue that the kind of institutions established by European colonialists, either protecting private property or extracting rents, resulted in the poorer parts of the pre-colonial world becoming some of the richest economies of today; while transforming some of the more prosperous parts of the non-European world of 1500 into the poorest economies today. This view has been further elaborated for Africa by Nunn, with reference to slave trading. Drawing on African and comparative economic historiography, the present paper endorses the importance of examining growth theories against long-term history: revealing relationships that recur because the situations are similar, as well as because of path dependence as such. But it also argues that the causal relationships involved are more differentiated than is recognised in AJR's formulations. By compressing different historical periods and paths, the ‘reversal’ thesis over-simplifies the causation. Relatively low labour productivity was a premise of the external slave trades; though the latter greatly reinforced the relative poverty of many Sub-Saharan economies. Again, it is important to distinguish settler and non-settler economies within colonial Africa itself. In the latter case it was in the interests of colonial regimes to support, rather than simply extract from, African economic enterprise. Finally, economic rent and economic growth have often been joint products, including in pre-colonial and colonial Africa; the kinds of institutions that favoured economic growth in certain historical contexts were not necessarily optimal for that purpose in others. AJR have done much to bring development economics and economic history together. The next step is a more flexible conceptual framework, and a more complex explanation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article a semiparametric spatial Durbin model is employed to analyse the growth behaviour of 155 European regions in the period 1988–2000. This specification combines the semiparametric approach with the usual parametric spatial econometric technique to accommodate both spatial dependence and nonlinearities as suggested by recent neoclassical growth models with spatial technological interdependence. The results provide evidence of nonlinearities in the effect of initial per capita incomes and human capital investments. Moreover, the specification used allows identifying the effect of the interaction between the characteristics (initial conditions and structural variables) of each region and those of its neighbours. Finally, it shows some indication of global spillovers across-country and local spatial spillovers from domestic neighbours. Resumen En este artículo se emplea un modelo semiparamétrico espacial de Durbin para analizar el comportamiento del crecimiento de 155 regiones europeas durante el periodo 1988–2000. Esta especificación combina el enfoque semiparamétrico con técnicas econométricas espaciales paramétricas habituales para reconciliar la dependencia espacial y las no linealidades, tal y como sugieren los modelos de crecimiento neoclásicos recientes con interdependencia tecnológica espacial. Los resultados ofrecen pruebas de no linealidades en el efecto de ingresos per capita iniciales e inversiones en capital humano. Además, la especificación utilizada permite utilizar el efecto de la interacción entre las características (condiciones iniciales y variables estructurales) de cada región y las de sus vecinos. Finalmente, da una idea de spillovers (efectos de derrame) globales entre países y spillovers espaciales locales de regiones vecinas dentro del país. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the paper "An Economic Theory of the Growth of the Western World," by professors Douglas C. North and Robert Paul Thomas. The paper is related to European economic growth. The theory proposed by North and Thomas relies heavily upon three components. The first is a model for cyclical fluctuations in the pre-industrial economic life of Europe. This model defines the relative changes in the cost of land and labor as changes in population alter the ratio between the two. It incorporates the relative elasticities which have been found in the supply and demand curves for foodstuffs as opposed to those for raw materials and industrial products. North and Thomas then elaborate this last observation into the second major element of their model, a "theory of institutional change." The shifts in factor proportions so heightened the possibilities of profit from production for the market that they exceeded the costs of the institutional innovations needed to change the organization of production and distribution of income. The result was the steady introduction of "secondary" institutional changes such as enclosures, joint-stock companies, government support of certain guilds, and regulation of quality.

Considerable attention has been devoted in the past to the methodological issues involved in the measurement and explanation of economic growth. Following the method pioneered by Denison and applied by him to the United States and Western Europe, comparative studies have been made of various other countries; that for Japan is of special interest. The present paper extends the analysis to the Soviet Union. In order to preserve comparability, the analysis follows the Denison methodology exactly, and compares the results with those for the United States, Northwest Europe, and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article comments on a study by Patrick O'Brien related to the economic development in Europe. O'Brien states in his paper that commerce between core and periphery for three centuries after 1450 proceeded on a small scale, was not a uniquely profitable field of enterprise and while it generated some externalities, they could in no way be classified as decisive for the economic growth of Western Europe. According to the author, the concept of supernormal profits implies the concept of a normal rate of profit. However, the normal rate of profit in capitalism is the maximum one can get away with. There may enter into the picture a political pressure which defines for given times and places a conventional profit rate, although such pressures have seldom been efficacious for very long. But the whole point of capitalism is the endless accumulation of capital. Though, at any given time profits may be higher from one investment than from another, always within the continuing underlying pressure towards the equalization of profit rates through the market.

In this article the author replies to a comment on one of his research papers related to the economic development in Europe. The author remarks that, if the concept of periphery is widened to include the totality of external and internal trade, its contribution to capital formation would be far greater. That procedure would, however, render the geographical and political concreteness normally associated with notions of core and periphery almost vacuous. Author's remarks on profits were addressed to one specific issue of whether or not European capitalists who invested in commerce with the periphery secured exceptionally high rates of return. To be sure, profits represented only one element of manifold connections between core and periphery. The author states that within the totality of world history, foreign trade formed one and by no means the most important element of the story. Commerce with the periphery mattered far less for capital formation than the New School of Development History is prone to assume.

Was there an agro-ecological crisis in Europe which preceded and contributed to pushing forward the agricultural revolution? This article presents a new theoretical and empirical approach to this controversial perspective on agricultural transformation and relates to an ongoing debate on conditions of growth in pre-industrial societies. The results demonstrate that there were indeed indicators of a crisis, which grew stronger during the eighteenth century and culminated in the early nineteenth century. The crisis was, however, not general, but was rather restricted to areas that stand out due to poor natural conditions for agriculture. In other words, the crisis was conditional. Furthermore, the findings show that the crisis could push forward changes that were important for enabling agricultural transformation and growth. However, both the emergence and reversal of the crisis were connected to new opportunities opened up by market development. Enough differences were found between different types of regions to suggest that there were many development paths within the agricultural transformation process, and that they were not necessarily linear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article quantifies the activities of medieval and early modern parliaments. It traces the long-term evolution of this European institution, and offers a first pass at analysing its impact on long-term economic development. Starting in Spain in the twelfth century, parliaments gradually spread over the Latin west between 1200 and 1500. In the early modern period, parliaments declined in influence in southern and central Europe and further gained in importance in the Netherlands and Britain, resulting in an institutional 'Little Divergence' between 1500 and 1800. We discuss the background of this phenomenon in detail. Moreover, by analysing the effects of parliamentary activity on city growth we find that these differences in institutional development help to explain the economic divergence between north-western and southern and central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addresses the relationship between research and development (R&D) and economic growth in Western Europe. Problems facing researchers willing to study the relationship between the resources devoted to R&D and economic growth; Connection between R&D and growth in Europe; Conclusions.

Presents information on the economic condition of Europe. Recovery of European economies in the third quarter of 1997; Increase in the exports of Germany; Reduction in the budget deficit of Italy.

A 'revisionist' view of the European fertility transition has challenged the previously accepted causal roles of economic forces. Our contribution has been to construct and test an econometric model in which economic growth causes fertility change. We find that rising per capita incomes raised birth rates, up to estimated turning points, and thereafter exerted negative effects. This finding is partly consistent with the revisionist view: economic growth apparently did not cause the emergence of historical fertility declines, which antedated the turning points. However, in the later phases of the transition, economic growth accelerated the fertility down-trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]