Mit der Großstadt aus der Armut: Eine neue Theorie der Industrialisierung

There is no doubt that industrialization was the main cause of modern economic welfare. The reasons for more or less industrialization in various regions of the world have been discussed widely for decades. However, a closer examination reveals that none of the controversial arguments and explanations put forward stand the test of empirical scrutiny. What has previously been ignored is the central role of large cities in provoking industrialization. Given all the other preconditions necessary for industrialization, it was finally the mass markets of large cities that made industrial mass production profitable for potential entrepreneurs. Thus, wherever large cities and urban agglomerations emerged in the world, industrialization followed suit. In a global and comparative perspective, industrialization was not so much a matter of countries but rather a matter of regions dividing the world into highly urbanized, industrialized and more prosperous regions on the one side, and still primarily rural, preindustrial and poorer regions on the other..