Stages of Diversification: France, 1836-1938

Stéphane Becuwe, Bertrand Blancheton () and Christopher Meissner

No 21777, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: A large literature has documented an association between economic growth and export diversification. We study this question in France between 1836 and 1938. The period witnessed the onset of modern economic growth and sharp changes in the level of international competition. We use a new long term database on French foreign trade at a high level of disaggregation. At the dawn of the first Globalization, France appears to have specialized along Ricardian lines, exporting a handful of textile products in large quantities. There is a decrease in specialization from 1860 to World War I along the lines of modern studies. Changes in trade costs along with economic growth help explain the evolution of France’s comparative advantage. The decline of export concentration is associated with a chronic deficit in the balance of trade during the Belle Époque and the major part of the interwar period particularly after 1927.

JEL-codes: F62 F63 N23 N73 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his and nep-hpe
Note: DAE
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Published as Stéphane Becuwe & Bertrand Blancheton & Christopher M Meissner, 2018. "Stages of diversification: France, 1836–1938," European Review of Economic History, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 430-461.

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Journal Article: Stages of diversification: France, 1836–1938 (2018)
Working Paper: Stages of diversification: France, 1836–1938 (2018)
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