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Lyons, J. Economic History of Modern Europe
MIAMI UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Note to CS gopher users: Following syllabus is a copy of the one I use for
myself; it includes many notes to myself in 'hidden text' which are
suppressed when I print it up for my students. Some are obvious (e.g.,
references to handouts and 'visuals'); others (bibliographical references
not listed in student version) are marked [hidden].
I have appended my writing assignments for this year, which range from
precis work to a 'term paper'. The larger number of short assignments in
1994 (than in previous years) is an experiment, suggested by past experience
and allowed by current enrollment of eleven students; comments or
suggestions are welcome by e-mail: jlyons@eh.net.
NB: File size for the entire set of documents is about 55K.
ECONOMIC HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE
ECO 341 Fall 1994
TR 5:30 - 6:45 pm Laws 111
Growth, Development, and Structural Change
in the Western European Economy, ca. 1650 - 1914
Dr. John Lyons Office M 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Office: 213-D Laws Hall Hours: TR 4:30 - 5:15 pm
Telephone: (529)-2853 W Noon - 2:00 pm
and by appointment
During the two and a half centuries covered by this course, the peoples of
north-western Europe experienced four overlapping eras of change in size,
structure and productivity of the economies -- indeed the economy -- in
which they lived and died:
a) In the years 1650 (and before) to 1800, commerce, manufactures and
agriculture became more specialized within and integrated across regions,
leading to aggregate income gains largely through trade on the basis of
comparative advantage, and perhaps through an intensification of work effort
recently called the 'Industrious Revolution'.
b) From about 1760 to the 1840s, Britain underwent an 'Industrial
Revolution', building on widespread commerce and a progressive agricultural
sector with accelerated technological and organizational changes in
manufacturing and transport. By the 1820s Britain had become by far the most
productive economy in the world.
c) From about 1780 to 1870 several areas in Western Europe themselves
underwent their own industrializations, with similarities and contrasts to
British industrialization that are matters of some dispute as well as
interest.
d) The latter half of the 19th century through the beginning of the first
World War witnessed several developments in the European economies (and
their offshoots) which mark the age in which we live -- the advent of
large-scale corporate enterprise and science-based technical change,
continuing expansion of world trade in manufactures and primary products,
great migrations of people and capital, and intense international economic
rivalry.
Despite rapid and significant changes in technology, politics, society and
economy in the past eight decades, much of the world of 1914 in western
Europe and its offshoots is familiar in kind if not degree to those of us
who now live in the 'industrial world'. The world of 1814, 1790 or 1660 was
different altogether. How Europe found and followed its 'path to the 20th
century' is our subject this term.
READINGS
Since there is no single textbook suitable for this course, readings are
drawn from a selection of texts, monographs, and articles from scholarly
journals in economic history. Required readings from books and anthologies
are on reserve in King Library, as are others recommended for background
reading or for use in writing assignments. Journal articles can be consulted
in the periodicals collection. Required readings are available for purchase
as a photocopy packet.
PREREQUISITES / LIBERAL EDUCATION
Prerequisites: Introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics (ECO 201 and
ECO 202). Liberal Education: This course is part of a proposed Miami Plan
Thematic Sequence in Economics, 'Exchange, Growth and Development in the
Global Economy', consisting of ECO 344 (International economic relations)
and two of ECO 341, ECO 342 (Comparative economic systems), ECO 343 (Economy
of modern China), and ECO 347 (Economic development).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS / GRADING
This course will be both 'writing intensive' and 'speaking intensive': there
will be six writing assignments -- five papers of varying length and one
essay examination -- and one formal class presentation in addition to
expected regular contributions to class discussion.
Examination
Final Examination: Tuesday, December 13th, 7:45 pm. (There will be no
midterm exam.)
Papers
Three short papers (2.5 - 4 pages each), due September 15, October 6, and
November 10.
One term paper, to be completed in two stages:
a) Preliminary analysis and bibliographical report, 5 pages maximum,
due October 20th.
b) Final version of paper, 14 pages maximum, due December 2.
These assignments are described fully in separate handouts. [Gopher readers
see below.]
Presentation
Each student will make a ten to fifteen minute presentation (perhaps in
partnership with another) summarizing the argument of an assigned reading
and raising questions for subsequent class discussion. See the separate
handout.
Evaluation
Your basic grade is determined entirely by your written work, with weights
as follows: short papers, 30%; term paper, 30%; final exam, 40%. Your course
grade will be the basic grade, modified up or down (by as much as half a
grade-point) by my assessment of your formal presentation and contributions
to class meetings -- questions, comments, discussion, attendance.
DISCUSSION
The subject is vast, and the course is not a comprehensive survey of the
issues, events, and processes of European economic development. Although
some degree of survey is necessary, and you will thus be expected to read
portions of older textbooks, most assigned readings are organized around
several themes to be discussed in some depth.
As continued disputes among scholars illustrate, what happened in history is
subject to constant revision and re-interpretation. When we ask analytical
questions such as how or why some complex phenomenon occurred, historians
recognize that answers are provisional, and that sometimes the questions
themselves are not well-formulated, or even presume 'facts' in evidence
which 'just ain't so'.
Modern European economic historical investigation is indeed as old as modern
Europe, but both interpretation and evidence have continued to change. An
important but very recent change has been two-fold: first, the advent of the
computer, which has allowed large but previously- untouched masses of
original data to be analyzed, and second, the incursion of professionally-
trained economists into the scholarly world of economic history. As a result
-- and this is neither all to the good nor all to the bad -- economic history
in the past thirty years or so has become inherently more quantitative and
statistical on the one hand, and more analytical and formally theoretical on
the other. There is still much room for intuition, imagination, argument,
and artistry, but this is now tempered by tighter limits on what is
plausible.
This course will investigate a few of the big questions about the rise of
the modern industrial economy -- the advent and diffusion of what Simon
Kuznets called 'Modern Economic Growth', its sources and its consequences.
By the same token, we will ignore or simply mention in passing some other
big questions -- why did 'Capitalism' appear when it did, and why Europe? We
will grapple with other questions, such as 'Why did the technical and
organizational changes that are usually called the "Industrial Revolution"
first appear in Britain?', but, as you will see, we cannot fully answer
them.
COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST
[Books and other items on reserve are listed in the addendum below;]
[abbreviated entries are listed there in full.]
The reading list contains two kinds of entries:
a) The required readings are numbered sequentially in [square brackets]; you
are expected to have read them before the relevant class meeting.
b) The other works listed either provide supporting information for the
assigned readings or contain material to be presented in lectures.
PART A. Introduction and Overview [Aug. 23 - 30]
What were the major transformations in European society and economy bridging
the centuries between the medieval world and the industrial world of the
20th century? How do economic historians approach these issues? Landes
discusses the social bases of economic growth in historical cases, from the
perspective of the contemporary development 'problem', and Maddison defines
and measures 'economic leadership'. We begin our reading with Wrigley's
perspective on poverty and wealth in the pre-industrial world, and
McCloskey's argument for the centrality of theory and measurement in
historical study.
David S. Landes, "Why are we so rich and they so poor?", American Economic
Review; Papers and Proceedings, 80:2 (May 1990), 1-13.
Angus Maddison, "Changes in Economic Leadership", ch. 2 of Dynamic Forces in
Capitalist Development. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1991.
Visual/handout # 1: GDP per capita league table, 1820 - 1989; from
Maddison 1991 above, pp. 6-7
[1] E. A. Wrigley, "Why poverty was inevitable in traditional societies", in
John A. Hall and I. C. Jarvie, eds., Transition to Modernity: Essays on
Power, Wealth and Belief, Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 1992, pp. 91-110.
pages: 20.
Visual/handout # 2.a: Phelps-Brown & Hopkins real wage diagram, from
deVries 1993 below
Visual/handout # 2.b: England: population growth vs real wage growth; from
Wrigley, 'conundrum'
[2] McCloskey, Econometric History, ch. 2 [ch. 3 recommended]. pages: 22
PART B. The European Economy before 'Industrialization': 16th-18th Centuries
[September 1- 27; Monday classes meet on Tuesday, September 6]
What were the characteristics of and limits to growth in the development of
what Wrigley calls the 'advanced organic economy'? What were the
interactions of organizational and technical changes in agriculture, the
expansion of trade and regional specialization, the growth of population,
and the increasing importance of the urban sector?
William N. Parker, "The pre-history of the nineteenth century", ch. 2 of
Parker, Europe, America, and the Wider World, vol. 1.
Wrigley, Continuity, Chance and Change, chs. 1, 2
B. I. Agricultural Change [September 1 - 13]
Productivity improvement in north-western European agriculture from late
Medieval times to about 1800 was based on a combination of changes in land
use and cropping patterns, organization, and property rights, strongly
associated with growing market-based incentives. The Dutch led the way, as
deVries points out in his discussion of a market-oriented specialization
model; Jones discusses English agricultural practice, and Allen and O'Grada
show that high (land) productivity was by the 18th century both widespread
and multi-faceted. Clark has identified some anomalies in output, price and
income data which lead him to doubt the existence of 'revolutionary' change
in British agriculture in the 18th century.
[3] Jan deVries, "Change in rural society, 1000-1800", ch. 1 of his The
Dutch Rural Economy in the Golden Age, 1500-1700, New Haven CT: Yale U. P.,
1974. [Appendices optional] pages: 17.
deVries, Economy of Europe, ch. 2
[4] E. L. Jones, "Agriculture and economic growth in England, 1660-1750:
Agricultural Change", Journal of Economic History 25:1 (March 1965), 1-18;
reprinted in his collection, Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, New
York: Wiley, 1974, ch. 3, pp. 67-84. pages: 18..
J. V. Beckett. The Agricultural Revolution, esp. ch. 3 (on enclosures).
[5] Robert C. Allen and Cormac O'Grada, "On the Road Again with Arthur
Young: English, Irish, and French Agriculture during the Industrial
Revolution", Journal of Economic History 48:1, (March 1988), 93-116. pages:
24.
E. L. Jones, "Agriculture, 1700-1800", in Floud & McCloskey, vol. 1.
P. K. O'Brien, "Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution", Economic History
Review 2nd. ser. 30:1, (February 1977), 166-181. [Hidden]
Gregory Clark, "Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, 1700-1850", ch. 4
in Mokyr, British Industrial Revolution, pp. 227-266.
B. II. Trade, Rural Industry, Population Growth, Urbanization [Sept. 15 - 27]
Agricultural specialization was associated with urbanization and expansion
of commerce, especially within Europe, and some areas replaced agricultural
employment in part with employment in rural industry. This change in the
nature of available 'livelihoods', it is argued, upset the stable
demographic regime of earlier centuries and led to the sharp increase in
population growth rates after about 1750. Cipolla and deVries [6] discuss
the role of commerce in European economic expansion, and Jones and Pollard
delineate links between agricultural specialization and the rise of rural
manufacturing (handicrafts, literally). Woods summarizes the major recent
developments in our knowledge of English population history. Malcolmson
surveys the 18th-century experience of work, and deVries [9] discusses the
implications of a transformation of the west-European household economy in
the pre-industrial period.
Carlo M. Cipolla, "The emergence of the modern age", ch. 9 of his Before the
Industrial Revolution, New York, Norton, 1976, pp. 205-30.
[6] deVries, "The Dynamism of Trade", in Economy of Europe, ch. 4, pp.
113-146. pages: 34
[7] E. L. Jones, "Agricultural Origins of Industry", Past and Present 40
(1968), pp. 58-71. pages: 14.
Pollard, Peaceful Conquest, pages 63-78, on 'proto-industry'.
B. II. Trade, Rural Industry, Population Growth, Urbanization [continued]
E. A. Wrigley, "The Growth of Population in Eighteenth-Century England: A
Conundrum Resolved", Past and Present 98 (February 1983), pp. 122-150.
[8] Robert Woods, "Population growth and economic change in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries", in Mathias & Davis, First Industrial Revolutions,
ch. 7, pp. 127-53. pages: 27
deVries, Economy of Europe, ch. 5, "Urbanization and regional trade"
E. A. Wrigley, "A simple model of London's importance in changing English
society and economy, 1650-1750", Past and Present 37 (1967), 44-70.
R. W. Malcolmson, "Ways of getting a living in eighteenth-century England",
in R. E. Pahl, ed., On Work: Historical, Comparative and Theoretical
Approaches, Oxford: Blackwell, 1988, 48-60. pages: 13
A. W. Coats, "Changing attitudes to labour in the mid-eighteenth century",
Economic History Review, 2nd. ser. 11 (1958), 35-51. [Hidden]
Jane Humphries, "Enclosures, common rights and women: The proletarianization
of families in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries", Journal
of Economic History 50:1 (March 1990), 17-42. [Hidden]
Jan deVries, "Between purchasing power and the world of goods: Understanding
the household economy in early modern Europe", in Brewer and Porter, eds.,
Consumption and the world of goods, pp. 85-132.
[9] Jan deVries, "The Industrial Revolution and the Industrious Revolution",
Journal of Economic History 54:2 (June 1994), 249-70.
Handouts: European urbanization patterns, 1650-1800;
Transport improvement, economic growth and specialization.
Population/economy
Wrigley diagram/ discussion.
PART C: Industrialization in Britain [Sept. 29 - Oct. 25]
What is 'industrialization', and was the process in Britain really
'revolutionary'? Was it a technological phenomenon, or financial, or
organizational? What was the social cost of early industrialization?
C. I. The Idea of the 'Industrial Revolution' [Sept. 29]
'What happened' in England or Britain or the British Isles between about
1760 and 1850 has been the subject of continuing definition, debate, and
re-interpretation. Crouzet points out both similarities and important
differences between France and Britain in the 18th century. Cannadine
reviews the changing historiography over the past century. Jones vigorously
argues a 'gradualist' interpretation, while both Landes and O'Brien restate
the case that there was indeed a 'revolution' in the British economy.
McCloskey surveys and interprets the recent scholarship for us. Two
excellent and stimulating surveys of the subject have been published by
Mokyr, in 1985 and in 1993.
Francois Crouzet, "England and France in the eighteenth century: a
comparative analysis of two economic growths", in R. M. Hartwell, ed., The
Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England, London: Methuen, 1967.
David Cannadine, "The present and the past in the English Industrial
Revolution, 1880-1980", as abridged for Berlanstein, ed., The Industrial
Revolution and Work, ch. 1, pp. 3-25. pages: 23
E. L. Jones, "A Know-all's Guide to the Industrial Revolution", ch. 1 of
Growth Recurring: Economic Change in World History. Oxford: Clarendon, 1988,
13-27.
David S. Landes, "The fable of the dead horse; or, the Industrial Revolution
revisited", in Mokyr, British Industrial Revolution, ch. 2, 132-70.
C. I. The Idea of the 'Industrial Revolution' [continued]
Patrick O'Brien, "Introduction: Modern conceptions of the Industrial
Revolution", in O'Brien & Quinault, ch. 1, pp. 1-30.
[10] Donald N. McCloskey, "Introductory Chapter for the period 1780-1860",
in Roderick Floud and Donald N. McCloskey, eds., New Economic History of
Britain, 1700 to the Present, second edition, forthcoming. pages: about
equal to 30
Wrigley, Continuity, Chance and Change, ch. 3. [Hidden]
Joel Mokyr, "The Industrial Revolution and the New Economic History", in
Mokyr, Economics of the Industrial Revolution, ch. 1. [photocopy on reserve]
Joel Mokyr, "Editor's Introduction: The New Economic History and the
Industrial Revolution", in Mokyr, British Industrial Revolution, ch. 1
C. II. Origins, Nature and Measurement of 'Modern Economic Growth' in Britain [Oct. 4 - 11]
The Industrial Revolution was technical change and changes in occupational
patterns, modes of transport, financial institutions and much else. Landes
supplies a classic survey with emphasis on technology and organization,
while Mokyr rules out of court one of the oft-cited 'causes' of British
industrialization. The chapter by Mathias is a compact discussion of banks
and other financial institutions.
Over the past fifteen years a debate has been building about the
pace of economic growth in England/Britain during the classic 'Industrial
Revolution' period. Lindert & Williamson, Harley, and Crafts have shown a)
that the British rate of economic growth was considerably smaller from 1770
or so to 1840 than had been believed, at least since the 1950s, and b) that
the British economy was both more diversified and larger before 1760 than
had been thought. The implications of their work will be discussed in class,
as will be the reaction from other scholars, of whom Berg and Hudson are an
excellent recent example.
[11] David S. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus, ch. 2, pp. 41-123.
[12] Joel Mokyr, "Demand vs. Supply in the Industrial Revolution", Journal
of Economic History 37:4 (December 1977), 981-1008; as reprinted in Mokyr,
ed., Economics of the Industrial Revolution, pp. 97-118.
For additional discussion of changes in technology, trade, finance, and so
forth, see Deane, First Industrial Revolution, Chs. 6-8, or Mathias, First
Industrial Nation, ch. 5. For recent revision of the macroeconomic record,
see Crafts, British Economic Growth.
Peter Mathias, "Financing the Industrial Revolution", ch. 4 of Mathias &
Davis, pp. 68-85. pages: 18
Peter H. Lindert and Jeffrey G. Williamson, "Revising England's Social
Tables, 1688-1812", Explorations in Economic History 19 (1982), 385-408.
N. F. R. Crafts, "The New Economic History and the Industrial Revolution",
ch. 2 of Mathias & Davis.
Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson, "Rehabilitating the industrial revolution",
Economic History Review 2nd. ser. 45:1 (February 1992), 24-50.
N. F. R. Crafts and C. K. Harley, "Output growth and the British Industrial
Revolution: A restatement of the Crafts-Harley view", Economic History
Review 2nd series 45:4 (November 1992), 703-730. [Hidden]
C. Knick Harley, "Reassessing the Industrial Revolution: A macro view", ch.
3 in Mokyr British Industrial Revolution, pp. 171-226.
C. III. The Debate on Living Standards of British Workers [Oct. 18 - 25]
Virtually since the first (textile) factory began operations the 'new' form
of industry has had its critics and its defenders -- the critics, usually
classed as the 'pessimists', were and are still dubious about the value of
industrial growth to the first generation or two of industrial workers and
their contemporaries; the defenders, known as 'optimists' of course, argue
that very few workers could have lost much, given even modest growth
(except, perhaps, because of the wars which sapped industrial expansion).
Ashton assembles evidence of improving material standards in the
central decades of the industrial revolution, while Hobsbawm succinctly puts
a pessimist case. Lindert and Williamson thought they had settled the issue
with new data and better analysis in 1983, but Mokyr showed that consumption
data for several commodities would not support their 'optimistic' case.
Horrell and Humphries aver that a major flaw in previous studies of material
standards was failure to consider household income, and work by women and
male and female children (about 70% of the population). Brown estimates the
cost to workers and their employers of unpleasant and unhealthy urban living
conditions.
A different tack has been taken recently by other scholars such as
Floud -- relating biological outcomes to living (nutritional) standards --
and good recent examples are provided by Nicholas and Steckel or Nicholas
and Oxley.
a. Material Standards
[13] T. S. Ashton, "The Standard of Life of the Workers in England,
1790-1830", Journal of Economic History, Supplement IX (1949), as reprinted
in Taylor, ed., The Standard of Living, ch. 3, pp. 37-57.
[14] E. J. Hobsbawm, "The human results of the Industrial Revolution,
1750-1850", ch. 4 of his Industry and Empire, Baltimore: Penguin, 1968, pp.
79-96.
Peter H. Lindert and Jeffrey G. Williamson, "English Workers' Living
Standards during the Industrial Revolution: A New Look", Economic History
Review, 2nd. ser. 36:1 (February 1983), 1-25; reprinted in Mokyr, Economics
of the Industrial Revolution, ch. 9. pages: 25
R. S. Neale, "The Poverty of Positivism: from Standard of Living to Quality
of Life, 1750- 1850", ch. 6 of Writing Marxist History: British Society,
Economy & Culture since 1700. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985, pp. 109-140.
[Hidden]
Joel Mokyr, "Is there still life in the pessimist case? Consumption during
the Industrial Revolution", Journal of Economic History 48:1 (March 1988).
[15] Sara Horrell and Jane Humphries, "Old questions, new data, and
alternative perspectives: Families' living standards in the Industrial
Revolution", Journal of Economic History 52:4 (December 1992), 849-880.
pages: 32
John S. Lyons, "Family response to economic decline: Handloom weavers in
early nineteenth- century Lancashire", Research in Economic History 12
(1989), 45-91. [Hidden]
John C. Brown, "The Condition of England and the Standard of Living: Cotton
Textiles in the Northwest, 1806-1850", Journal of Economic History 50:3
(Sept. 1990), 591-614.
b. Biological Standards
R. Floud, "Standards of living and industrialization", in Digby and
Feinstein, ch. 9.
[16] Stephen Nicholas and Richard H. Steckel, "Heights and living standards
of English workers during the early years of industrialization, 1770-1815",
Journal of Economic History 51:4 (December 1991), 937-957. pages: 21
Stephen Nicholas and Deborah Oxley, "The living standards of women during
the industrial revolution, 1795-1820", Economic History Review 2nd. ser.
46:4 (Nov. 1993), 723-49.
PART D. Industrial Development on the Continent [Oct. 27 - Nov. 10]
Industrial development on the continent, as recent scholarship has begun to
stress, was rather different from what occurred in Britain, although with
similarities which should not be ignored. How did agriculture, labor
supply, and growth of industry compare with the British case? Do the
differences imply Continental inferiority in any sense? Concentrating on
industrial regions rather than nations, Pollard argues that Britain (i.e.,
British regions) was first and the Continent emulated, while Sylla and
Toniolo survey Alexander Gerschenkron's case that Continental patterns of
industrialization differed in systematic ways from their British precursor.
We will examine Belgium, France and the German states, focusing on
government development and trade initiatives, technological borrowing,
investment banking, and the impact of railways. Tilly is especially good on
assessing the Gerschenkronian schema, and Grantham on explaining patterns of
productivity change in French agriculture (and, by extension, West European
agriculture).
[17] Sidney Pollard, "Industrialization and the European Economy", Economic
History Review 2nd. ser. 26:4 (November 1973); reprinted with revisions in
Mokyr, Economics of the Industrial Revolution, ch. 8, pp. 165-76. pages: 12
Richard Sylla and Gianni Toniolo, "Introduction" to Sylla & Toniolo,
Patterns of European Industrialization, pp. 1-26. pages: 26
John A. Davis, "Industrialization in Britain and Europe before 1850: New
Perspectives and Old Problems", in Mathias & Davis, ch. 3.
N. F. R. Crafts, "Economic Growth in France and Britain, 1830-1910: A Review
of the Evidence", Journal of Economic History 44:1 (March 1984), 49-67.
[18] On Belgium, Milward & Saul, 1780-1870, ch. 7 (pp. 432-452).
[19] On France, Trebilcock, Industrialization of the Continental Powers, ch.
3 (pp. 112-155).
George Grantham, "Agricultural Supply during the Industrial Revolution:
French Evidence and European Implications", Journal of Economic History 49:1
(March 1989), 43-72. pages: 30
[20] Richard Tilly, "Germany", in Sylla & Toniolo, Patterns of European
Industrialization, ch. 9, pp. 175-96.
See also for France: Milward & Saul, 1780-1870, chs. 4 & 5; and for Germany:
Milward & Saul, 1780-1870, ch. 6, and Trebilcock, ch. 2. Landes, Unbound
Prometheus, ch. 3, discusses Western Europe generally, focusing on
industries and power supplies. Pollard, Peaceful Conquest:, ch. 3,
emphasizes industrial regions rather than nations, and ch. 4 discusses
technology transmission and resource & capital supply. pages: about 80
PART E: The 'Second Industrial Revolution', the International Economy, and
Industrial Competition [November 15 - December 6]
The late 19th century (through 1914) was characterized by the spread of
modern industry to many places outside Europe, and the eclipse of Britain as
the premier industrial power by both the United States and Germany. This
section will concentrate on a few elements of economic change in this
period: the progressive integration of much of the world economy into an
international network dominated by the North Atlantic industrial powers, the
growth of the modern corporate form of enterprise, and changes in industrial
leadership in both 'old' and 'new' industries.
Background readings are Trebilcock, ch. 3 (pp. 150-198); Milward & Saul,
1850-1914, chs. 1, 2, 3; Landes, Unbound Prometheus, chs. 4, 5; Pollard,
Peaceful Conquest:, ch. 7; and Floud in Floud & McCloskey, vol. 2, ch. 1.
[21] Joel Mokyr, "The Industrial Revolution: Britain and Europe", The Lever
of Riches, ch. 10.
Nathan Rosenberg and L. E. Birdzell, Jr., "The Link between Science and
Wealth", Chapter 8 of How the West Grew Rich. New York: Basic, 1986, pp.
242-268. pages: 27
E. I. International Flows of Goods and Factors [Nov. 17, 22]
[22] Milward & Saul, 1850-1914, ch. 9.
[23] Jonathan Hughes, "Growth of the International Framework to 1914",
Chapter 7 of Industrialization and Economic History, pp. 138-161. pages: 24
R. Marvin McInnis, "The Emergence of a World Economy in the Latter Half of
the Nineteenth Century", International Economic History Congress, Bern 1986:
Debates and Controversies, Zurich: Fachvereine, 1986, 83-107.
A. G. Hopkins, "British Imperialism: a Review and a Revision", in Digby & Feinstein, ch. 6.
Mathias, First Industrial Nation, ch. 11.
Hatton, Timothy J. and Jeffrey G. Williamson, 'What drove the mass
migrations from Europe?', Population and Development Review 20:3 (September
1994), 533-59. [Hidden]
E. II. International Competition, Economic Maturity and the Emergence of
Large-Scale Industrial Enterprise [Nov. 29 - Dec. 1]
[24] Alfred D. Chandler, jr., "Creating Competitive Capability: Innovation
and Investment in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany from the
1870s to World War I", in Patrice Higonnet, David S. Landes and Henry
Rosovsky, eds., Favorites of Fortune: Technology, Growth, and Economic
Development since the Industrial Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U.P.,
1991. pages: 27
C. K. Harley and D. N. McCloskey, "Foreign trade: competition and the
expanding international economy", in Floud & McCloskey, vol. 2, ch. 3.
Richard Tilly, "Mergers, External Growth, and Finance in the Development of
Large-Scale Enterprise in Germany, 1880-1913", Journal of Economic History
42:3 (September 1982).
Robert C. Allen, "International Competition in Iron and Steel, 1850-1913",
Journal of Economic History 39:4 (Dec. 1979), 911-938. pages: 28 E. II.
International Competition, Economic Maturity etc. [continued]
[25] Steven Webb, "Tariffs, Cartels, Technology and Growth in the German
Steel Industry, 1879 to 1914", Journal of Economic History 40:2 (June 1980),
309-29. pages: 21
William Lazonick, "The Cotton Industry", and Bernard Elbaum, "The Steel
Industry before World War I", in Elbaum and Lazonick, eds., Decline of the
British Economy .
PART F: Retrospective [December 6, 8]
For our last two meetings we will look back at the developments we have
discussed from two viewpoints, on structures and processes. Crafts
emphasizes the distinctiveness, even peculiarity, of structural change in
British 'industrialization'. Parker, on the other hand, sees European
economic development as a series of overlapping and unifying processes,
dominated by tendencies linked with the perspectives of Malthus
(population), Smith (trade and specialization), and Schumpeter (innovation
and finance).
N. F. R. Crafts, "British Industrialization in an International Context",
Journal of Interdisciplinary History 19:3 (Winter 1989), 415-428. pages: 14
[26] W. N. Parker, "European Development in a Millennial Perspective", from
C. P. Kindleberger and G. di Tella, eds., Economics in the Long View,
Volume 2, New York: New York U. P., 1982, pp. 1 -24; reprinted in Parker,
Europe, America, and the Wider World, vol. 1, ch. 11, as "Opportunity
sequences in European history".
*** FINAL EXAMINATION [Tuesday, December 13th, 7:45 - 9:45 PM, Laws 111] ***
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RESERVE LIST
Books and folders containing required readings are on 2-hour reserve (in
most cases with overnight privileges). Other materials placed on reserve
(primarily for use in completing paper assignments) are on 1-day or 3-day
reserve. An additional list of reserve materials will be distributed with
the term paper assignment sheet. Please respect the due dates and times in
consideration of your classmates.
Lenard R. Berlanstein. The Industrial Revolution and Work in
Nineteenth-Century Europe. New York: Routledge, 1992.
J. V. Beckett. The Agricultural Revolution. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.
John Brewer and Roy Porter, eds. Consumption and the world of goods. New York: Routledge,
1993.
N. F. R. Crafts. British Economic Growth during the Industrial Revolution.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.
Phyllis Deane. The First Industrial Revolution, 2nd edition. Cambridge:
Cambridge U. P., 1979.
Anne Digby and Charles Feinstein, eds. New Directions in Economic and Social
History. Chicago: Lyceum, 1989.
Bernard Elbaum and William Lazonick, eds. The Decline of the British
Economy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
Roderick Floud and Donald McCloskey, eds. The Economic History of Britain
since 1700. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 1981.
Volume 1: 1700 - 1860.
Volume 2: 1860 to the 1970s.
Jonathan Hughes. Industrialization and Economic History: Theses and
Conjectures. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.
E. L. Jones. Growth Recurring: Economic Change in World History. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1988.
David S. Landes. The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial
Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge
U. P., 1969.
Donald N. McCloskey. Econometric History. London: Macmillan Education, 1987.
Peter Mathias. The First Industrial Nation. An Economic History of Britain,
1700-1914, second edition. London: Methuen, 1983.
Peter Mathias and John A. Davis, eds. The First Industrial Revolutions.
Oxford: Blackwell, 1989.
A. Milward and S. B. Saul. The Economic Development of Continental Europe,
1780-1870. London: Allen & Unwin, 1973.
A. Milward and S. B. Saul. The Development of the Economies of Continental
Europe, 1850- 1914. London: Allen & Unwin, 1977.
RESERVE LIST [continued]
Joel Mokyr, ed. The Economics of the Industrial Revolution. Totowa, NJ:
Rowman and Allanheld, 1985. [The library's copy is missing and will
ultimately be replaced. Meanwhile, a photocopy of Mokyr's introductory
chapter is on reserve in a folder.]
Joel Mokyr. The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic
Progress. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Joel Mokyr, ed. The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective.
Boulder CO: Westview, 1993.
Patrick O'Brien and Roland Quinault, eds. The Industrial Revolution and
British Society. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 1993.
William N. Parker. Europe, America, and the Wider World. Essays on the
Economic History of Western Capitalism, Vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P.,
1984.
Sidney Pollard. Peaceful Conquest: The Industrialization of Europe,
1760-1970. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1981.
Richard Sylla and Gianni Toniolo, eds. Patterns of European
Industrialization: The Nineteenth Century. New York: Routledge, 1991.
Arthur J. Taylor, ed. The Standard of Living in Britain in the Industrial
Revolution. London: Methuen, 1975.
Clive Trebilcock. The Industrialization of the Continental Powers,
1780-1914. London: Longman, 1981.
Jan deVries, The Economy of Europe in An Age of Crisis, 1600-1750.
Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 1976.
E. A. Wrigley. Continuity, Chance and Change: The Character of the
Industrial Revolution in England. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 1988.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHORT PAPERS
All papers to be submitted typed or computer-printed, double-spaced, with
normal margins (1 inch all around). Word limits below thus imply approximate
length in pages.
Short Paper 1
Precis. Choose one of Readings 4, 5, 6, or 7, and in 600 words or fewer (2.5
pages max) write a summary of the paper, showing how the author argues to
his conclusion (i.e., uses logical chains of reasoning and relevant
supporting evidence to support his case). [Submit by Sept. 15.]
Short Paper 2
Reaction. Choose one of Readings 9, 10, or 12, and in 750 words or fewer
(about 3 pages) react or respond to the reading. Your reaction may be
anything you wish -- you may wish to denounce or defend it, evaluate, in
part criticize, or praise to the skies, or even doubt its relevance to
anything. Remember, however, that my reaction to your paper will be heavily
influenced by how well you explain that your reaction is serious and not
frivolous. [Submit by Oct. 6th.]
Short Paper 3
Comparative analysis: Choose one of Readings 15, 16, 18, 19, or 20 and one
other related assigned or recommended reading from the syllabus, and in an
essay of 1,000 words or fewer (about 4 pages) evaluate the argument and
evidence of the numbered reading, making specific reference to how the
related reading supports or undercuts the assumptions, logic, and/or
evidence of the numbered reading.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ECO 341, Lyons Fall 1994
TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Proposal (i.e., a preliminary paper & bibliography) due October 20th (in
class or previously at my office hours). Final version of paper due Friday,
December 2nd by 5 PM (in my mailbox in 208 Laws). Papers submitted early or
on time will most likely be graded and returned by the last day of class,
December 8th; papers with extensions (for which you must see me in advance)
will be returned at the examination.
Your task is to produce an analytical paper of 3,000 to 3,500 words on one
of the topics specified below, which are largely but not exclusively related
to issues treated in the second half of the course. Each topic is defined by
a question or statement and a limited set of readings. [As an alternative,
you may wish to define and investigate a topic of your own choice, subject
to my approval in advance. See last page below.]
Part 1. Proposal:
By October 20th, submit a four to five page (double-spaced) discussion of
two matters:
a) a brief and clear comparative summary of two readings from the list under
the topic (an exercise similar to the short paper assignments, especially
short paper 3). Readings allowed for this exercise are indicated by *. Your
discussion should show how each of these readings is related to the assigned
topic, and on what major points the two readings contradict and/or support
each other. You should attempt to identify points of contention which cannot
be easily resolved using these articles alone.
b) A brief and clear discussion of types of evidence (additional to that
mentioned in part a) or argument (indicating general agreement or
disagreement with authors discussed in part a) of other scholars who have
written on the topic. [NOTE: It is not your task at this stage to state the
results.] Part of this portion of your assignment is to find and read at
least two relevant pieces of scholarly work not listed on the assignment
sheet.
c) The discussion must be accompanied (not counted in the page limit) by a
bibliography, in a standard format, of the materials you have read and/or
found which you anticipate using in writing the paper itself. Each
bibliographical entry must be annotated with a brief statement (if not
already discussed in a) or b) above) of how it is relevant to the topic. At
this point your bibliography should include six to eight items, although the
final paper will probably have a somewhat longer bibliography.
Sources:
Your access to the library's book collection, via keyword and other forms of
searching, has recently been greatly enhanced by Sherlock. You should
remember, however, that older books are not listed (even though the MU
libraries possess them). References to articles in the scholarly literature
are available on CD/ROM, the most useful of which is the Social Sciences
Index ; MiamiLink also provides access to several periodicals databases in
the Ohiolink system and to the FirstSearch service. In addition, there are
several bibliographical works of considerable value available in print at
the library, such as the Index to Economic Articles, Social Sciences
Citation Index , and Social Sciences Index (the printed version is sometimes
more useful than the computerized database). Also, don't forget the
availability of human assistance.
I will comment upon and grade your analyses by one calendar week after they
are submitted; this grade will be one-quarter of the value of this paper
assignment (or about one-twelfth of the basic course grade). Criteria for
grading the proposal will include the clarity of your discussion, the ways
in which you will limit and define the problem so that it can reasonably be
discussed within the page limit for the paper, and your degree of adherence
to one or another of the standard bibliographical and referencing systems to
which you have been exposed. I may feel compelled to return an inadequate
proposal for revision and resubmission.
Part 2. Final version:
The paper is due December 2nd by 5PM at my mailbox in 208 Laws. It should
reflect your informed judgement of how to answer the question or how to
evaluate the historical problem you discuss in the first part of the
assignment. A good paper will include a clear statement of the problem,
followed by an analysis of the evidence and argument employed by the
scholars whose work you have chosen to read, and a conclusion which follows
logically from your analysis. It may well be that you will reject entirely
the work of some scholars and support fully the work of others, or it may be
that all the work you read has some demonstrable defects. You must judge,
even though you may feel you have insufficient experience to do so; remember
simply that the ability to judge well comes only from having done so
beforehand, that is, from practice. You should not expect that your work be
either exhaustive or definitive -- most of the subjects assigned are more
extensive than can be covered fully in a brief term paper. The emphasis
should be on developing your ability to read, to understand, and to engage
in the analysis of issues in economic history; part of this task is to
choose a tractable subject and to focus on the essential issues. In this
process you will, I expect, greatly improve your ability to interpret and
evaluate the relevant quantitative and qualitative information available.
Submissions should be typed or written with a word-processor, double-spaced
with at least 1" margins all around, and should be a maximum of 14 pages
long, including footnotes or endnotes, but excluding the
bibliography/references.
A note on research methods, reading sources, and writing your paper.
This assignment is intended to give you additional and extensive practice in
reading and understanding the professional literature in economic history,
not to encourage you to do original research in primary sources and then to
announce earth-shattering results. You must learn to walk confidently
before you run.
For each topic I provide on the following pages, I have listed a set of
essential source readings, most of which you should read carefully. In
addition, finding, reading, understanding and using at least two other
sources is part of the assignment. However, there are truly relevant
additional sources and others only vaguely related to the topic; generally I
will know which is which, and part of my evaluation will be based on how
well you performed in finding good rather than indifferent additional
sources.
I will soon place on 2-hour reserve three good books on research and writing:
Cantor, Norman F. and Richard I. Schneider. How to Study History.New York:
Crowell, 1967. Although it might be useful for you to read the whole book,
there is doubtless no time for that; I recommend you have a look at chapters
5, on reading 'secondary sources,' 9, on writing the paper, and 10, on
research methods, especially pages 181-195 on "How to use the library.'
Officer, Lawrence H., Daniel H. Saks, and Judith A. Saks. So You Have to
Write an Economics Term Paper. . . East Lansing MI: Michigan State
University Press, 1981. This book is a nice complement to Cantor &
Schneider, providing advice and tutelage for addressing economic issues.
See chapter 2, 'What can I tell the prof who knows it all anyway?,' chapter
7, 'Facts, true facts, and false facts,' chapter 8, 'Finding out what's
known even when it's wrong' (more on the library), and especially chapter
11, 'If it's straight from the horse's mouth, you had better name the
horse.'
McCloskey, Donald N. The Writing of Economics. New York: Macmillan, 1987. A
brief book, with each chapter discussing a rule, as, for example: 2.
'Writing is thinking,' 4. 'Be Thou clear,' 8. 'Write too early rather than
too late,' 13. 'Control your tone,' 22. 'Watch punctuation, weeding out
excess commas,' 26. 'Avoid words that bad writers love.'
TOPICS
NOTES: Some topics/readings involve use of technical/statistical analysis;
you can choose to avoid these, but in some cases a good deal of the
important work is expressed in those terms and you should try to come to
grips with it. Consult me about difficulties of interpretation. References
to readings on the syllabus include both the required and the recommended
materials.
For Part a) of the proposal phase, read and discuss two of the starred
readings (*). All others, including the two you must find on your own,
should receive brief mention in part b) of the proposal or in the
bibliography.
Topic 1: Is "proto-industrialization", as defined and elaborated by F. F.
Mendels, a useful concept in organizing our knowledge about the causes or
sources of "modern" industrial development in 18th & 19th century Europe?
Readings by Jones and Pollard, syllabus B.II.
* Franklin F. Mendels, "Proto-industrialization: The First Phase of the
Industrialization Process", Journal of Economic History 32:1 (March 1972),
and comments by David Landes.
* Rab Houston and K.D.M. Snell, "Proto-Industrialization? Cottage Industry,
Social Change, and Industrial Revolution", Historical Journal 27:2 (1984),
473-492.
Topic 2: To what extent did the "enclosure movement" contribute to rural
depopulation and/or to the rise of an industrial proletariat in 18th century
England?
* J. D. Chambers, "Enclosure and Labour Supply in the Industrial
Revolution", Economic History Review 2nd series 5 (1953).
* Jane Humphries, "Enclosures, common rights and women: The
proletarianization of families in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries", Journal of Economic History 50:1 (March 1990), 17-42.
* Bennett D. Baack and Robert Paul Thomas, "The Enclosure Movement and the
Supply of Labour during the Industrial Revolution", Journal of European
Economic History 3:2 (Fall 1974).
Topic 3: Was the concentration of workers in factories during the Industrial
Revolution a consequence of technological changes or of the desire of
capitalist employers to exercise tighter control over their workers?
Readings by Landes, McCloskey and Mokyr (1985) or Mokyr (1993), syllabus,
C.I., for background.
* Stephen Marglin, "What do Bosses Do?", Review of Radical Political
Economics 6:2 (1974).
* David S. Landes, "What do Bosses Really do?", Journal of Economic History,
46:3 (Sept. 1986).
Topic 4: Did economic changes in industry and agriculture in England in the
period 1760-1850 restrict or expand the economic status of women, and to
what extent?
Reading by Berg and Hudson, syllabus, C.II., and reading by Humphries in
Topic 2.
* Joan W. Scott and Louise A. Tilly, "Women's Work and the Family in Nineteenth-Century
Europe", Comparative Studies in Society and History 17:1 (January 1975).
* Maxine Berg, "Women's work, mechanization and the early phases of
industrialization in England", in Patrick Joyce, ed., The Historical
Meanings of Work (1987) Katrina Honeyman and Jordan Goodman, "Women's work,
gender conflict, and labour markets in Europe, 1500-1900", Economic History
Review 2nd. ser. 44:4 (Nov. 1991), 608-28.
Topic 5: Did France undergo an agricultural revolution in the 19th century?
Readings by Allen and O'Grada and by * Grantham, syllabus, B.I. and D.
* William H. Newell, "The Agricultural Revolution in Nineteenth-Century
France", Journal of Economic History 33:4 (December 1973).
George Grantham, "The Diffusion of the New Husbandry in Northern France,
1815-1840", Journal of Economic History 38:2 (June 1978)
Topic 6: Was the British "Industrial Revolution" accompanied by a sharp
increase in the rate of capital formation? Why or why not?
Relevant portions of Mathias (book) and Mathias (article), syllabus, C.II.
* Sidney Pollard, "Fixed Capital in the Industrial Revolution in Britain",
Journal of Economic History 24:3 (September 1964), and reprinted in Francois
Crouzet (ed.), Capital Formation in the Industrial Revolution, (1972).
* Phyllis Deane, "The Role of Capital in the Industrial Revolution",
Explorations in Economic History 10:4 (1973)
Topic 7: Did the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and/or the employment of slave
labor in the Americas, provide a major source of capital to finance early
British industrialization?
* Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (1944), relevant chapters.
* Stanley L. Engerman, "The Slave Trade and British Capital Formation in the
Eighteenth Century: A Comment on the Williams Thesis", Business History
Review 46 (1972) Barbara Solow, "Caribbean Slavery and British Growth: The
Eric Williams Hypothesis", Journal of Development Economics 17 (1985)
Topic 8: Can one defend the view that demand changes were a "cause" of the
Industrial Revolution in England? [Hidden for 1994]
Elizabeth W. Gilboy, "Demand as a factor in the Industrial Revolution", in
A. H. Cole, ed., Facts and Factors in Economic History (1932), reprinted in
R. M. Hartwell, ed., The Causes of the Industrial Revolution in England
(1967)
Readings by McCloskey, Mokyr or Mokyr, syllabus, C.I.
O'Brien, Patrick, "Agriculture and the home market for English industry,
1660-1820", English Historical Review 100: 397 (October 1985),773-800.
Topic 8: "Did British workers' living standards really improve as much from
1815 to 1850 as Lindert and Williamson say?"
Articles in sections C.III.a. and C. III.b. of syllabus, especially *
Lindert and Williamson, Mokyr, and Brown.
* R. S. Neale, "The Poverty of Positivism: from Standard of Living to
Quality of Life, 1750- 1850", ch. 6 of Writing Marxist History: British
Society, Economy & Culture since 1700. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985, pp.
109-140.
Topic 9: Is the pattern of industrialization on the Continent -- a different
pattern from that of Britain -- an indicator of Continental backwardness
relative to Britain, or just a different path to industrial growth? [Pick
one Continental example.]
* Alexander Gerschenkron, title article, Economic Backwardness in Historical
Perspective (1962).
Readings by Sylla & Toniolo, Pollard (article and portions of book),
Trebilcock, and Davis, syllabus, D, as background.
* Francois Crouzet, "Western Europe and Great Britain: 'Catching Up' in the
First Half of the 19th Century", in A. J. Youngson, ed., Economic
Development in the Long Run (1972). On France:
* Article by Crafts, syllabus, D.
John Vincent Nye, "Firm Size and Economic Backwardness: A New Look at the
French Industrialization Debate", Journal of Economic History 47:3
(September 1987) [technical]
On Spain:
* Cesar Molinas and Leandro Prados de la Escosura, "Was Spain Different?
Spanish Historical Backwardness Revisited", Explorations in Economic History
26:4 (1989), 385-402.
Topic 10: "Did Victorian Britain fail?" [The question, in a sense, invites
discussion of international competitiveness of Britain with her trading
rivals in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, in a variety of sectors in
manufacturing and services, along the lines of Part E.II of the syllabus.]
* McCloskey, Donald N., article on the subject, Economic History Review 2nd
series 23:3 (1970), reprinted in his Enterprise and Trade in Victorian
Britain (1981).
* Coleman, D. C. and Christine MacLeod, "Attitudes to New Techniques:
British Businessmen, 1800-1950", Economic History Review 2nd. series 39:4
(Nov. 1986), 588-611.
Articles by Allen, Webb, Lazonick, Elbaum, and by others in the
Elbaum/Lazonick collection, just for starters.
Topic 11: Evaluate the advantages or disadvantages to European trading
countries of the movement to Free Trade and of the return to protectionism
(except by the British) between the 1840s and ca. 1900.
Articles by Hughes and Webb, chapter in M & S II, Pollard book (ch. 7),
syllabus, E..
* Article by Harley & McCloskey in F & M: 2
* Charles P. Kindleberger, "The Rise of Free Trade in Western Europe,
1820-1875", Journal of Economic History 35:1 (1975).
John Vincent Nye, "The Myth of Free Trade Britain and Fortress France:
Tariffs and Trade in the Nineteenth Century", Journal of Economic History
51:1 (1991).
Topic 12: Assess the (relative) importance of bank-led "entrepreneurship"
and/or the developmental activities of the State in the rise of German
industrial power.
Portions of books by Trebilcock and Pollard, and chapter by Tilly, syllabus
E.
* Tilly, Richard, 'German Banking, 1850-1914: development assistance to the
strong,' Journal of European Economic History 15 (1986), 113-52.
* W. R. Lee, "Economic Development and the State in nineteenth-century
Germany", Economic History Review 2nd series 41:3 (1988), 346-67.
Topic 13: Is it possible to explain the "New Imperialism" of the late
nineteenth century in economic terms?
Article by Hopkins; chapter by Mathias, syllabus, E.I.
* Jonathan Hughes, Industrialization and Economic History: Theses and
Conjectures (1970), chapter 8.
* P. J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins, "Gentlemanly capitalism and British
expansion overseas II: new imperialism, 1850-1945", Economic History
Review 2nd series 40:1 (1987), 1-26.
Other possible topics and/or initial readings:
If you choose a topic not listed above, you should be in a position to state
the topic 'question', along the lines of the ones I have supplied, to
develop a full bibliography, and to choose appropriately from that list of
works the two to be summarized for the proposal. See me in advance if you
wish to develop an independent topic.
Turnbull, Gerard [1987], "Canals, coal and regional growth during the
Industrial Revolution", Economic History Review 2nd series 40:4 (Nov),
537-560.
Turner, Michael [1986], "English Open Fields and Enclosures: Retardation or
Productivity Improvements", Journal of Economic History 46:3 (Sept.),
669-692.
Sources of the European fertility decline in the later 19th century.
The importance of literacy and general education to 19th-century industrial
growth in Europe.
The growth, diversification, and integration of financial markets and
intermediaries in Western Europe, 1700-1870. [France, England, Belgium,
"Germany"]
Variations in the rate of expansion of "Big Business" in the major (and
minor, for that matter) European economies in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
Living standards for Continental European workers in the 19th century.
[There is some good literature on Belgium especially.]
The role of children and youth in European labor forces as industrialization
proceeded in the 19th century. [Good literature on Britain and France.]
The alleged influence of the small, conservative, family firm on the pattern
of French industrialization.
A review article on Robert C. Allen's recent book, Enclosure and the Yeoman:
The Agricultural Development of the South Midlands 1450-1850. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 199