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This study investigates the empirical determinants of the treaty network of the 1860s and 1870s. It makes use of three central theories about the determinants of PTA formation, considering economic fundamentals from neoclassical and 'new' trade theory, political-economy variables, and international interaction due to trade diversion fears (dependence of later PTAs on former). These possible determinants are operationalized using a newly constructed dataset for bilateral cooperation and non-cooperation among 13 European Countries and the US. The results of logistic regression analysis show that the treaty network can be explained by a combination of 'pure' welfare-oriented economic theory with political economy and international interaction models.

This study contributes to a revised picture of nineteenth-century bilateralism. Employing a new disaggregated data set, it argues that bilateral treaties did not implement general free trade, but instead reduced tariffs unevenly through commodity-specific preferences, especially favoring manufactured goods. Gravity model estimates show that specific liberalizations increased exports of corresponding items, but not overall trade. Exporters from countries whose governments used bilateralism strategically to bring down partner tariffs benefitted most. Hence, the network in form and outcome is more properly identified with reciprocal liberalization practiced by the French than with British free-trade ideology.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Glossary of Weights and Measures -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Economic and Political Context for Danish Agricultural Development, ca. 1660- 1850 -- 3. The Agricultural Reforms, 1750s- 1800s -- 4. The Spread of the Holstein System -- 5. From Bullshit to Butter: Accounting and Production Decisions -- 6. Science, Innovation, and the Dissemination of Knowledge -- 7. How the Danes Discovered Britain -- 8. Industrial and Trade Policy -- 9. The Spread of Modern Dairying beyond the Estates: The Rise of the Cooperatives -- 10. Agriculture, Industry, and Modern Economic Growth in Denmark -- 11. Lessons from the Danish Agricultural Revolution for Developing Countries -- Notes -- References -- Index.

The late nineteenth‐century Danish agricultural revolution saw the modernization and growth of the dairy industry. Denmark rapidly caught up with the leading economies, and Danish dairying led the world in terms of productivity. Uniquely in a world perspective, high quality micro‐level data exist documenting this episode. These allow the use of the tool of modern agricultural economists, stochastic frontier analysis, to estimate production functions for milk and thus find the determinants of these productivity and efficiency advances. This article identifies the contribution of modernization through specific new technologies and practices.

After postulating the relevance of information for trade costs we outline the rise of international communication networks (mail, telegraph, telephone) during the first globalisation of the long nineteenth century. In this period, global communications systems for the first time in history provided universal access to affordable and reliable means of communication. Using a new set of internationally comparable data on global postal flows, we analyse basic determinants of international information exchange and conclude by outlining a research agenda that links these to international trade patterns and knowledge transfer between countries.

This article considers an example of the impact of a new good on producers of close substitutes: the invention of margarine and its rapid introduction into the British market from the mid‐1870s. This presented a challenge to the traditional suppliers of that market, butter producers from different European countries. We argue that the capacity to react quickly to the appearance of this cheap substitute by improving quality and establishing product differentiation was critical for the fortunes of butter producers. This is illustrated by a discussion of the different reactions to margarine and quality upgrading inIreland,Denmark, and theNetherlands. A statistical analysis using monthly data for Britain from 1881–7 confirms that margarine had a greater impact on the price of poor quality butter than that of high quality butter, presumably because it was a stronger substitute.

During the decades prior to the Civil War, Spain experienced a rapid process of urbanization, which was accompanied by the demographic transition and sizeable rural–urban migrations. This article investigates how urban housing markets reacted to these far‐reaching changes, which increased demand for dwellings. To this end, this study employs a new hedonic index of real housing prices and constructs a cross‐regional panel dataset of rents and housing price fundamentals. This new evidence indicates that rents were not a significant financial burden on low‐income families and, hence, housing was affordable for the working classes. The article also shows that families' access to new homes was facilitated by a sizeable growth in the housing supply. Substantial investments in urban infrastructure and the institutional framework enabled the construction of new homes at affordable prices. Our results suggest that housing problems were not as pervasive during the urban transition as the literature often seems to claim.