Effective Exchange Rates in Japan, 1879-1938

This paper constructs nominal and real multilateral effective exchange rates ffor Japan during the period 1879-1938. Existing studies of Japanese quantitative economic history have tended to use the dollar-yen bilateral exchange rate. A comparison of different indices suggests that the new data offer new insights into Japan�s economic history

Weather effects on European agricultural output, 1850 1913

This paper compares the effects of weather shocks on agricultural production in Britain, France and Germany during the late nineteenth century. Using semi- parametric models to estimate the non-linear agro-weather relationship, we find that weather shocks explain between one and two-thirds of variations in agricultural production. Given the large size of the agricultural sector during this period, the high variance of agricultural production and the cyclical nature of weather shocks, the agro-weather relationship transmitted large effects on macroeconomic fluctuations over much of the period

Electricity Diffusion and Trend Acceleration in Inter-War Manufacturing Productivity

This paper evaluates the link between the diffusion of electricity and the increase in labour productivity growth in the manufacturing sector during the inter-war period. A comparative analysis of the USA, Britain, Germany, and Japan shows that the trend acceleration in labour productivity is common to all these countries except Germany and is correlated with electricity diffusion. Germanyà  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à ¯à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à ¿à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à ½s labour productivity growth was nevertheless sustained in 1925 - 1938. The USA saw an earlier acceleration because the diffusion of electricity-based general-purpose technologies in production was much faster than in the other countries examined

British Episodic Economic Growth 1850-1938

This paper argues that non-random measurement errors in the estimates of British Gross Domestic Product makes the compromise estimate a biased indicator of medium-term economic growth. Since the compromise estimate of GDP has been widely accepted and used to describe macroeconomic trends in the British economy this has resulted in descriptions of British economic growth that are best explained as statistical artifacts. This paper questions the existence of an à ¯à ¿à ½Edwardian Climactericà ¯à ¿à ½, argues for a rethinking of the myth of the à ¯à ¿à ½Great Depressionà ¯à ¿à ½ and offers new insights on inter-war economic growth

Eugenics In Practice at the Oregon State Hospital

This paper explores the use of Eugenics and radical experimental therapies as societal control methods. Using patient case files from the 1920s at the Oregon State Mental Hospital, the story of two patients that were committed is explored. Each patient had treatment and, in some cases, abuses at the hands of the state institutions. In many cases treatment was used as control under the guise of cure. Using the works of social and medical historians to place context on the socially acceptable practices of the time, the paper builds an understanding of the state mental hospital. Through government files such as legislation, patient medical files, Eugenics Board of Oregon files, and death certificates, the patient’s life stories are recreated and explored. With insufficient staff, insufficient funding, and sever overcrowding of the state institutions, the need for control of patients became paramount. Treatments like Eugenics, hydrotherapy, and isolation and restraint became control measures hidden behind a veil of treatment and cure

How do international human rights influence national healthcare provisions for irregular migrants?: A case study in France and the United Kingdom

Debates about human rights have often questioned their potential for generating rights at national levels. In this article, we use the case of irregular migrants' access to health care in the United Kingdom and France to explore the extent to which international human rights influence national health care provisions for irregular migrants. We explore the extent to which health care access and provision for irregular migrants in these two countries is in agreement with international human rights. In so doing, we examine what constitutes an infringement of the international human right to health care. Finally, we sketch out some hypotheses about the role played by different state structures in the implementation of human rights norms, comparing the United Kingdom with France. We argue that, although international human rights often have a largely symbolic role in nation-state jurisdiction, they may sometimes represent a force for change