This book brings together analysis on the conditions of agricultural sectors in countries and regions of the world's peripheries, from a wide variety of international contributors. The contributors to this volume proffer an understanding of the processes of agricultural transformations and their interaction with the overall economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Looking at the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - the onset of modern economic growth - the book studies the relationship between agriculture and other economic sectors, exploring the use of resources (land, labour, capital) and the influence of institutional and technological factors in the long-run performance of agricultural activities. Pinilla and Willebald challenge the notion that agriculture played a negligible role in promoting economic development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the impulse towards industrialization in the developing world was more impactful.

Informed and containing incisive analysis, this book firmly places European agricultural history back at the centre stage.

Bringing together a wealth of international scholars, who are experts in the area, to provide an authoritative and comprehensive analysis it answers a range of fundamental and important questions. These include:

• What were the main cycles of agricultural output growth since 1870?
• What was the impact in output of the grain invasion and the growth of export markets?
• How did agriculture react to protection in the interwar period?
• What was the role of agriculture during the European golden age?
• What happened to the growth of labour force and labour participation rates?
• How did investment evolve and how did its composition change?
• How did labour, capital and total factor productivity perform?
• How does this compare to what happened in the USA?

With analyses of more than ten European countries and introductory and concluding chapters that compare and contrast the European experience with that of North America, this volume is key reading for students of agriculture, development economics and economics history.

This is a comprehensive long-run history of economic and political change in the Iberian Peninsula. Beginning with the development of the old medieval kingdoms, it goes on to explore two countries, Portugal and Spain, which during the early modern period possessed vast empires and played an essential role in the global economic and political developments. It traces how and why both countries began to fall behind during the first stages of industrialization and modern economic growth only to achieve remarkable economic development during the second half of the twentieth century. Written by a team of leading historians, the book sheds new light on all aspects of economic history from population, agriculture, manufacturing and international trade to government, finance and welfare. The book include extensive new data and will be an essential work of reference for scholars of Portugal and Spain and also of comparative European economic development.

In this anthology, editors Kym Anderson and Vicente Pinilla have gathered together some of the world's leading wine economists and economic historians to examine the development of national wine industries before and during the two waves of globalization. The empirically-based chapters analyze developments in all key wine-producing and consuming countries using a common methodology to explain long-term trends and cycles in wine production, consumption, and trade. The authors cover topics such as the role of new technologies, policies, and institutions, as well as exchange rate movements, international market developments, evolutions in grape varieties, and wine quality changes. The final chapter draws on an economic model of global wine markets, to project those markets to 2025 based on various assumptions about population and income growth, real exchange rates, and other factors. All authors of the book contributed to a unique global database of annual data back to the mid-nineteenth century which has been compiled by the book editors.

This book brings together analysis on the conditions of agricultural sectors in countries and regions of the world's peripheries, from a wide variety of international contributors. The contributors to this volume proffer an understanding of the processes of agricultural transformations and their interaction with the overall economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Looking at the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - the onset of modern economic growth - the book studies the relationship between agriculture and other economic sectors, exploring the use of resources (land, labour, capital) and the influence of institutional and technological factors in the long-run performance of agricultural activities. Pinilla and Willebald challenge the notion that agriculture played a negligible role in promoting economic development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the impulse towards industrialization in the developing world was more impactful.

In this anthology, editors Kym Anderson and Vicente Pinilla have gathered together some of the world's leading wine economists and economic historians to examine the development of national wine industries before and during the two waves of globalization. The empirically-based chapters analyze developments in all key wine-producing and consuming countries using a common methodology to explain long-term trends and cycles in wine production, consumption, and trade. The authors cover topics such as the role of new technologies, policies, and institutions, as well as exchange rate movements, international market developments, evolutions in grape varieties, and wine quality changes. The final chapter draws on an economic model of global wine markets, to project those markets to 2025 based on various assumptions about population and income growth, real exchange rates, and other factors. All authors of the book contributed to a unique global database of annual data back to the mid-nineteenth century which has been compiled by the book editors.

Whilst many books on the European economy have focused on the analysis of its industrial sectors, this book draws attention to the often ignored contribution made by the development of European agriculture over the past two centuries. In doing so, the authors adopt a revisionist perspective on the subject, addressing the lack of coherent study of the agricultural sector and reassessing old theories about the links between agricultural and economic development. In focusing on those countries which by 1870 still had a large agricultural sector, namely, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Greece and Turkey, this book determines the role of the agricultural sector in the economic development of Europe. These chapters demonstrate how the rate of development in the agricultural sector depended on specific industrial, political and market conditions; the diversity of ways and timings through which transformation was achieved is also considered.

The relationship between natural capital and economic growth is an open debate in the field of economic development. Is an abundance of natural resources a blessing or a curse for economic performance? The field of Economic History offers an excellent vantage to explore the relevance of institutions, technical progress and supply-demand drivers. Natural Resources and Economic Growth contains theoretical and empirical articles by leading scholars who have studied this subject in different historical periods from the 19th century to the present day and in different parts of the world. Part I presents the theoretical issues and discusses the meaning of the "curse" and the relevance of the historical perspective. Part II captures the diversity of experiences, presenting thirteen independent case studies based on historical results from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. This book emphasizes that an abundance of natural resources is not a fixed situation. It is a process that reacts to changes in the structure of commodity prices and factor endowments, and progress requires capital, labour, technical change and appropriate institutional arrangements. This abundance is not a given, but is part of the evolution of the economic system. History shows that institutional quality is the key factor to deal with abundant natural resources and, especially, with the rents derived from their use and exploitation. This wide ranging volume will be of great relevance to all those with an interest in economic history, development, economic growth, natural resources, world history and institutional economics.

History teaches us that the exploitation of natural resources and the transformation of the environment are necessary steps towards achieving long-term improvements in living conditions in all societies. However, the relationship between natural capital and economic growth is an open debate in the field of economic development.

Is an abundance of natural resources a blessing or a curse for economic performance? Is this a direct relationship or is it mediated by other institutional and technological factors, or by market forces? Does the relationship always operate in a similar way over time and space? The field of Economic History offers an excellent vantage point from which to explore the relevance of institutions, technical progress and supply-demand drivers. This book contains theoretical and empirical articles by leading scholars who have studied this subject in different historical periods from the 19th century to the present day and in different parts of the world. Part I presents the theoretical issues and discusses the meaning of the "curse," the relevance of the historical perspective and the evolution of relative prices as one of the main expressions of the process. Part II captures the diversity of experience, presenting twelve independent case studies ranging over based on historical results from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. By comparing outcomes, attempts are made to draw general lessons about natural capital and its relationship with economic development.

This wide ranging volume will be of great relevance to all those with an interest in economic history, development, economic growth, natural resources, world history and institutional economics.