Economic development in Spain, 1850-1936

Indicators of the good health of Spanish economic history include the growing number of publications in English, the proliferation in the number of academic journals within Spain, and the fact that the 1998 International Economic History Congress is to be held in Seville. It is not possible to provide here a general note on all aspects of recent research, but this essay offers a critical examination of the major arguments advanced for the slow growth in the Spanish economy over the century or so before the civil war of 1936-9. The period after 1936 has been excluded because, although many of the obstacles to development remained until the 1960s, three excellent surveys of the literature have recently been published.' Where possible, English versions of works are cited, and the essay lists only those Spanish publications which are likely to be relatively easily obtainable. After considering recent estimates of economic growth and development, the survey tries to explain the slow change by looking at three areas: agriculture, industry, and the role of the state.Publicad

Did tariffs stifle Spanish agriculture before 1936?

This paper challenges the widely held view that tariff protection was the major factor in explaining the poor performance of Spanish agriculture in the half century prior to the 1936 Civil War. After examining the general level of tariffs, it is argued that these were not sufficient in themselves to explain either the poor diets or weak demand for manufactured goods. Secondly, farmers were slow to switch resources out of cereals, not so much because of the tariffs, but rather because of the limited export opportunities for alternative crops, especially olive oil and wine. Finally, the evidence suggests that those areas which saw a significant increase in the area of cereals were just as likely to see a decline in the agricultural population as those that did not, suggesting that the rural exodus was determined by factors other than the tariff.Publicad

Phylloxera, price volatility and institutional innovation in france's domestic wine markets, 1870-1911

This paper looks at the response of growers and merchants, first to vine disease and high prices, and then to the problems of overproduction and product adulteration. France produced a large range of wines, but by the early twentieth century most commodity chains were failing to provide accurate information for consumers to discriminate between differences in quality. The paper argues that the different characteristics of individual wines, and the nature of their commodity chains, resulted in the demand for very different solutions to the low prices and profits of the 1900

Spanish agricultural production and productivity 1890-1936

In the first section new estimates for final agricultural output between 1892 and 1936 are presented. These indicate that only from 1909/13 did land and labour productivity start to increase. In the second section estimates for 1929/33 are provided on a provincial basis, and reasons why some of the major local differences occurred are suggested. Finally, the changes in regional productivity between 1909/13 and 1929/33 are shown, shedding light especially on the poor performance of Andalucian agriculture

Selling to reluctant drinkers : the British wine market, 1860-1914

Attempts to stimulate wine drinking in Britain in the early 1860s succeeded in tripling wine imports, but this increase proved short lived, and per caput consumption was no greater in 1914 than it had been in 1815. Supply volatility, together with difficulties in establishing impersonal exchange mechanisms in place of those based on the personal reputation of economic agents, made it difficult to create a mass market. Not only did consumers receive insufficient information to identify quality prior to purchase, but the high price of some wines also encouraged cheap imitations, some of which were prejudicial to the health of the drinker.Publicad

Ghana and the Ideal of the Citizen-Shareholder: A Corporate-Law Response to the Resource Curse

This Note assesses Ghana’s legal regime for managing revenues from its newfound petroleum reserves as a means of combatting the resource curse—the well-documented political and economic phenomenon wherein resource-rich countries experience greater levels of corruption and poor governance and weaker democracy and economic growth than resource-poor nations. The Ghanaian regime fails to provide systemic protections against the resource curse by (1) supplying insufficient economic development and poverty relief, (2) lacking incentives and mechanisms for overseeing and holding accountable the powers responsible for managing petroleum revenues, and (3) providing insufficient channels for spreading the economic benefits of extraction beyond the petroleum sector. This Note undertakes a comparative study of a representative group of petroleum revenue-management regimes—those of Alaska, Norway, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago—in search of an effective regime that might be transplanted to Ghana. Finding that none of these regimes are adequately applicable to Ghana’s economic, social, or political context, this Note goes on to propose a novel regime for petroleum revenue management in Ghana, drawing on principles of U.S. corporate law

California and the creation of a modern wine industry : 1860-1919.

The very different factor endowments of the New World to those found in Europe implied that the wine industry developed its own style and characteristics. In California production was located at a considerable distance from the main markets on the East Coast, and trade was initially controlled by the East Coast merchants, who imported wines from Europe and purchased California wine in bulk, selling it under their own brands. The problems of marketing and the fight against fraud and adulteration, produced a struggle between the wine-makers and San Francisco’s merchants for the control of the industry, and the creation of the world’s largest, vertically integrated wine company, the California Wine Association.Wine history; Agricultural commodity chains; Farm organization; California agriculture;

Peasantry and Society in France since 1789 [book review].

Sociedad rural; Agricultura; Francia;

Poverty, progress, and population [book review].

Poverty; Population; Industrial revolution; England; Cities; Towns;