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L’Histoire Immobile? A Reappraisal of French Economic Growth using the Demand-Side Approach, 1280-1850

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  • Nuvolari, Alessandro
  • Ridolfi, Leonardo

Abstract

We construct a new series of GDP per capita for France for the period 1280-1850 using the demand-side approach. Our estimates point to a long run stability of the French economy with a very gradual acceleration towards modern economic growth. In comparative perspective, our new estimates suggest that England and France were characterized by similar levels of economic performance until the second half of the seventeenth century. It is only after that period that the English economy “forges ahead†in a consistent way.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuvolari, Alessandro & Ridolfi, Leonardo, 2020. "L’Histoire Immobile? A Reappraisal of French Economic Growth using the Demand-Side Approach, 1280-1850," CEPR Discussion Papers 14985, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14985
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. G. W. Grantham, 1993. "Divisions of labour: agricultural productivity and occupational specialization in pre-industrial France," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 46(3), pages 478-502, August.
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    5. Milanovic, Branko, 2015. "The Level And Distribution Of Income In Mid-Eighteenth-Century France, According To Franã‡Ois Quesnay," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 17-37, March.
    6. Jane Humphries, 2013. "The lure of aggregates and the pitfalls of the patriarchal perspective: a critique of the high wage economy interpretation of the British industrial revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 66(3), pages 693-714, August.
    7. Stéphane Becuwe & Bertrand Blancheton & Karine Onfroy, 2019. "« Base Montesquieu » les données du commerce extérieur français de 1836 à 1938," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(4), pages 87-109.
    8. Ridolfi, Leonardo, 2019. "Six Centuries of Real Wages in France from Louis IX to Napoleon III: 1250–1860," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(3), pages 589-627, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Palma, Nuno & Reis, Jaime & Rodrigues, Lisbeth, 2023. "Historical gender discrimination does not explain comparative Western European development: evidence from Portugal, 1300-1900," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Leandro Prados de la Escosura & Carlos Álvarez-Nogal & Carlos Santiago-Caballero, 2022. "Growth recurring in preindustrial Spain?," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 16(2), pages 215-241, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    : gdp; Economic growth; France; Demand-side approach;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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