Economic History of Europe

In: New Approaches to Economic and Social History

Abstract

Cover -- Half-title page -- Series page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- Tables -- Figures -- Maps -- Boxes -- Preface to the second edition -- Preface to the first edition -- Introduction: What is economic history? -- Efficiency in the use of resources shapes the wealth of nations -- Outline of the chapters -- 1 The making of Europe -- 1.1 The geo-economic continuity of Europe -- 1.2 Europe trades, therefore it is! -- 1.3 The limits of geographical integration -- 1.4 From geo-economics to geo-politics: the European Union -- Summary -- 2 Europe from obscurity to economic recovery -- 2.1 Light in the Dark Ages -- 2.2 Gains from division of labour: Adam Smith revisited -- 2.3 Division of labour is constrained by insufficient demand -- 2.4 Division of labour promotes technological change -- 2.5 After the post-Roman crisis: the economic renaissance of the ninth to fifteenth centuries -- 2.6 Population -- 2.7 The restoration of a monetary system -- 2.8 Transport and trade routes -- 2.9 Urbanization -- 2.10 Production and technology -- 3 Population, economic growth and resource constraints -- 3.1 Historical trends in population growth -- 3.2 The Malthusian theory of population growth and stagnation -- 3.3 Is the Malthusian theory testable? -- 3.4 The secrets of agricultural progress -- 3.5 Understanding fertility strategies -- 3.6 The demographic transition -- 4 The nature and extent of economic growth in the pre-industrial epoch -- 4.1 Understanding pre-industrial growth -- 4.2 Accounting for pre-industrial productivity growth -- 4.3 Wages and income distribution -- 4.4 The Great Divergence: when did Europe forge ahead? -- Appendix: The dual approach to total factor productivity measurement -- 5 Institutions and growth -- 5.1 Institutions and efficiency -- 5.2 The peculiarity of institutional explanations.