Accounting for the ‘Little Divergence’ What drove economic growth in pre-industrial Europe, 1300-1800?

Alexandra de Pleijt () and Jan Luiten van Zanden

No 104, Working Papers from European Historical Economics Society (EHES)

Abstract: We test various hypotheses about the causes of the Little Divergence, using new data and focusing on trends in GDP per capita and urbanization. We find evidence that confirms the hypothesis that human capital formation was the driver of growth, and that institutional changes (in particular the rise of active Parliaments) were closely related to economic growth. We also test for the role of religion (the spread of Protestantism): this has affected human capital formation, but does not in itself have an impact on growth.

Keywords: Europe; Economic growth; Little Divergence; Human capital formation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N13 N33 O40 O52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2016-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-gro and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: Accounting for the “Little Divergence”: What drove economic growth in pre-industrial Europe, 1300–1800? (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hes:wpaper:0104

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