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The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutioanl Change and Economic Growth

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Author Info
Acemoglu, Daron
Johnson, Simon H.
Robinson, James A.

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Abstract

This paper documents that the Rise of (Western) Europe between 1500 and 1850 is largely accounted for by the growth of European nations with access to the Atlantic, and especially by those nations that engaged in colonialism and long distance oceanic trade. Moreover, Atlantic ports grew much faster than other West European cities, including Mediterranean ports. Atlantic trade and colonialism affected Europe both directly, and indirectly by inducing institutional changes. In particular, the growth of New World, African, and Asian trade after 1500 strengthened new segments of the commercial bourgeoisie, and enabled these groups to demand, obtain, and sustain changes in institutions to protect their property rights. Furthermore, the most significant institutional changes and consequently the most substantial economic gains occurred in nations where existing institutions placed some checks on the monarchy and particularly limited its control of overseas trading activities, thus enabling new merchants in these countries to benefit from Atlantic trade. Therefore, the Rise of Europe was largely the result of capitalist development driven by the interaction of late medieval institutions and the economic opportunities offered by "Atlantic trade

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Paper provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management in its series Working papers with number 4269-02.

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Date of creation: 14 Apr 2003
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Handle: RePEc:mit:sloanp:1857

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Postal: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT), SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, 50 MEMORIAL DRIVE CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS 02142 USA

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Keywords: Capitalism; Economic Growth; Institutions; Political Economy; Social Coflict; Trade;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-79, April.
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  2. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2000. "The tyranny of inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 521-558, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2000. "Political Losers as a Barrier to Economic Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 126-130, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Inikori, J. E., 1985. "Market Structure and Profits: A Further Rejoinder," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(03), pages 708-711, September. [Downloadable!]
  5. De Long, J Bradford & Shleifer, Andrei, 1993. "Princes and Merchants: European City Growth before the Industrial Revolution," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 671-702, October.
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  6. Antonio Ciccone & Kiminori Matsuyama, 1999. "Efficiency and Equilibrium with Dynamic Increasing Aggregate Returns Due to Demand Complementarities," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(3), pages 499-526, May.
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  7. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2002. "Economic Backwardness in Political Perspective," NBER Working Papers 8831, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Galor, Oded & Mountford, Andrew, 2002. "Why are a Third of People Indian and Chinese? Trade, Industrialization and Demographic Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 3136, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. K. H. O'Rourke & J. G. Williamson, 2001. "After Columbus: Explaining the Global Trade Boom 1500-1800," Trinity Economics Papers 20016, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James Robinson, 2002. "The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 9378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Stephen L. Parente & Edward C. Prescott, 1999. "Monopoly Rights: A Barrier to Riches," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1216-1233, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Inikori, J. E., 1983. "Market Structure and the Profits of the British African Trade in the Late Eighteenth Century: A Rejoinder," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(03), pages 723-728, September. [Downloadable!]
  14. Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 1995. "A Rostovian model of endogenous growth and underdevelopment traps," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1569-1602, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Tim Leunig, 1998. "New Answers to Old Questions: Transport Costs and the Slow Adoption of Ring Spinning in Lancashire," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _022, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
  16. North, Douglass C, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Inikori, J. E., 1981. "Market Structure and the Profits of the British African Trade in the Late Eighteenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(04), pages 745-776, December. [Downloadable!]
  18. Neal, Larry, 2000. "How it all began: the monetary and financial architecture of Europe during the first global capital markets, 1648 1815," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(02), pages 117-140, October. [Downloadable!]
  19. Allen, Robert C., 2001. "The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the Middle Ages to the First World War," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 411-447, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2002. "Reversal Of Fortune: Geography And Institutions In The Making Of The Modern World Income Distribution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(4), pages 1231-1294, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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