Economic development in Africa and Europe: reciprocal comparisons

Stephen Broadberry and Leigh A. Gardner

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Recent advances in historical national accounting have allowed for global comparisons of GDP per capita across space and time. Critics have argued that GDP per capita fails to capture adequately the multi-dimensional nature of welfare, and have developed alternative measures such as the human development index. Whilst recognising that these wider indicators provide an appropriate way of assessing levels of welfare, we argue that GDP per capita remains a more appropriate measure for assessing development potential, focussing on production possibilities and the sustainability of consumption. Twentieth-century Africa and pre-industrial Europe are used to show how such data can guide reciprocal comparisons to provide insights into the process of development on both continents.

Keywords: GDP per capita; HDI; Africa; Europe; reciprocal comparison (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 N01 N1 N13 N17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-evo and nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 1, March, 2016, 34(1), pp. 11-37. ISSN: 0212-6109

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/65069/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND EUROPE: RECIPROCAL COMPARISONS* (2016)
Working Paper: Economic Development In Africa And Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:65069

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