Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Paul Erdkamp ◽  
Koenraad Verboven ◽  
Arjan Zuiderhoek
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Capital Goods ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Large Complex ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Modern Economic

Investment in capital, both physical and financial, and innovation in its uses are often considered the linchpin of modern economic growth, while credit and credit markets now seem to determine the wealth—as well as the fate—of nations. Yet was it always thus? The Roman economy was large, complex, and sophisticated, but in terms of its structural properties, did it look anything like the economies we know today? Through consideration of the allocation and uses of capital and credit and the role of innovation in the Roman world, this volume explores how capital in its various forms was generated, allocated, and employed in the Roman economy; whether the Romans had markets for capital goods and credit; and whether investment in capital led to innovation and productivity growth.

Capital, Investment, and Innovation in the Roman World

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Capital Investment ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Agriculture Water

Investment in capital, both physical and financial, and innovation in its uses are often considered the linchpins of modern economic growth, while credit and credit markets now seem to determine the wealth—as well as the fate—of nations. This book asks whether it always thus, and whether the Roman economy—large, complex, and sophisticated as it was— looked anything like today’s economies in terms of its structural properties. Through consideration of the allocation and uses of capital and credit and the role of innovation in the Roman world, the contributors to this volume go to the heart of the matter. How was capital in its various forms generated, allocated, and employed in the Roman economy? Did the Romans have markets for capital goods and credit? Did investment in capital lead to innovation and productivity growth? The authors consider multiple aspects of capital use in agriculture, water management, trade, and urban production, and of credit provision, finance, and human capital in different periods of Roman history, in Italy and elsewhere in the Roman world. Using many different types of written and archaeological evidence, and employing a range of modern theoretical perspectives and methodologies, the contributors, an international team of historians and archaeologists, have produced the first book-length contribution to focus exclusively on (physical and financial) capital in the Roman world, a volume that is aimed at experts in the field as well as at economic historians and archaeologists specializing in other periods and places.

scholarly journals Urbanisation and the Onset of Modern Economic Growth

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Brunt ◽  
Cecilia García-Peñalosa
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
City Size ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Modern Economic

Abstract A large literature characterizes urbanisation as resulting from productivity growth attracting rural workers to cities. Incorporating economic geography elements into a growth model, we suggest that causation runs the other way: when rural workers move to cities, the resulting urbanisation produces technological change and productivity growth. Urban density leads to knowledge exchange and innovation, thus creating a positive feedback loop between city size and productivity that initiates sustained economic growth. This model is consistent with the fact that urbanisation rates in Western Europe, most notably England, reached unprecedented levels by the mid-18th century, the eve of the Industrial Revolution.

scholarly journals Culture and institutions: a review of Joel Mokyr's A Culture of Growth

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Geoffrey M. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Positive Feedbacks ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Generalized Darwinism ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Additional Level ◽  
Inter State

Abstract This is a review of Joel Mokyr's fascinating book entitled A Culture of Growth. The work is summarized, noting its focus on Darwin-style evolutionary explanations of cultural change. But Mokyr's emphasis on cultural entrepreneurs and positive feedbacks in the procreation of ideas is insufficient to explain the origins of modern economic growth. Too much explanatory weight is placed on too few extraordinary people. It is argued that Mokyr's analysis should be extended, to bring the evolution of institutions, as well as the evolution of culture, into the picture at an additional level. The role of inter-state rivalry and exogenous shocks has also to be underlined. This kind of analysis can be developed within the framework of generalized Darwinism, which Mokyr himself adopts. This is a major and highly stimulating book.

scholarly journals Human Capital: Challenges for Russia

2012 ◽  
pp. 114-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Mau
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Pension System ◽  
International Competition ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Private Spending ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Post Industrial

Education, healthcare and pension system are the key sources of modern economic growth. They need profound transformation based on post-industrial challenges. The new principles of transformation of these sectors include individualization of services, their privatization (a rising role of private spending), life-long demand for them, globalization (international competition), and development of radically new technologies to provide them.

scholarly journals Investment in human capital as the basis for the country’s economic growth

2020 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 09046
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Nezhnikova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
The State ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Multiplier Effect ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth

A key factor in modern economic growth is investment in people and in the development of human capital, as evidenced by the experience of many countries. Investments in human capital create conditions for sustainable economic growth, constant adaptation of the socio-economic structure to new areas of scientific and technological progress. In addition, investments in people form demand in many adjacent sectors, thereby causing a significant multiplier effect. Currently, the role of the state in this area is quite large. The role of the state is especially great in the most important spheres of the formation of human capital - in the field of education, health care and the allocation of research.

scholarly journals The Role of Complex Analysis in Modelling Economic Growth

Entropy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelica Sbardella ◽  
Emanuele Pugliese ◽  
Andrea Zaccaria ◽  
Pasquale Scaramozzino
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Complex Analysis ◽  
Capital Intensity ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Economic Complexity ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Determinants Of Economic Growth

Development and growth are complex and tumultuous processes. Modern economic growth theories identify some key determinants of economic growth. However, the relative importance of the determinants remains unknown, and additional variables may help clarify the directions and dimensions of the interactions. The novel stream of literature on economic complexity goes beyond aggregate measures of productive inputs and considers instead a more granular and structural view of the productive possibilities of countries, i.e., their capabilities. Different endowments of capabilities are crucial ingredients in explaining differences in economic performances. In this paper we employ economic fitness, a measure of productive capabilities obtained through complex network techniques. Focusing on the combined roles of fitness and some more traditional drivers of growth—GDP per capita, capital intensity, employment ratio, life expectancy, human capital and total factor productivity—we build a bridge between economic growth theories and the economic complexity literature. Our findings show that fitness plays a crucial role in fostering economic growth and, when it is included in the analysis, can be either complementary to traditional drivers of growth or can completely overshadow them. Notably, for the most complex countries, which have the most diversified export baskets and the largest endowments of capabilities, fitness is complementary to the chosen growth determinants in enhancing economic growth. The empirical findings are in agreement with neoclassical and endogenous growth theories. By contrast, for countries with intermediate and low capability levels, fitness emerges as the key growth driver. This suggests that economic models should account for capabilities; in fact, describing the technological possibilities of countries solely in terms of their production functions may lead to a misinterpretation of the roles of factors.

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