Princes and Merchants: European City Growth before the Industrial Revolution

J. Bradford De Long and Andrei Shleifer
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: James Bradford DeLong ()

No 4274, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: As measured by the pace of city growth in western Europe from 1000 to 1800. absolutist monarchs stunted the growth of commerce and industry. A region ruled by an absolutist prince saw its total urban population shrink by one hundred thousand people per century relative to a region without absolutist government. This might be explained by higher rates of taxation under revenue-maximizing absolutist governments than under non-absolutist governments. which care more about general economic prosperity and less about State revenue.

JEL-codes: N13 K20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1993-02
Note: EFG
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