Komlos Nutrition and Economic Development in the Eighteenth-Century Habsburg Monarchy

An Anthropometric History
Course Book
ISBN: 978-1-4008-6038-8
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1010, 344 Seiten, Web PDF

Reihe: Princeton Legacy Library

John Komlos examines the industrial expansion of Austria from a fresh viewpoint and develops a new model for the industrial revolution. By integrating recent advances in the study of human biology and nutrition as they relate to physical stature, population growth, and levels of economic development, he reveals an intense Malthusian crisis in the Habsburg lands during the second half of the eighteenth century. At that time food shortages brought about by the accelerated population growth of the 1730s forced the government to adopt a reform program that opened the way for the beginning of the industrial revolution in Austria and in the Czech Crownlands. Comparing this "Austrian model" of economic growth to the industrial revolution in Britain, Komlos argues that the model is general enough to explain demographic and economic growth elsewhere in Europe--despite obvious regional differences. The main feature of the model is the interplay between a persistent, even if small, tendency to accumulate capital and a population with an underlying tendency to grow in numbers while remaining subject to Malthusian checks, particularly a limited availability of food. According to Komlos, modern economic growth in Europe began when the food constraint was finally lifted.

Originally published in 1989.

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Autoren/Hrsg.

Komlos, John

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets

Inhaltsverzeichnis

FrontMatter, pg. i
CONTENTS, pg. vii
LIST OF FIGURES, pg. xi
LIST OF TABLES, pg. xiii
PREFACE, pg. xv
INTRODUCTION, pg. 3
1. The Theory of Anthropometric History, pg. 23
2. Human Stature in East-Central Europe: The Eighteenth Century, pg. 55
3. Institutional Change under Pressure: Government Policy in an Enlightened Despotism, pg. 119
4. Conclusion, pg. 167
5. The "Austrian" Model and the Industrial Revolution in England, pg. 187
6. Pre-industrial Economic Growth: A Generahzation of the "Austrian" Model, pg. 207
APPENDIX A. RECRUITING PRACTICES OF THE HABSBURG ARMY, pg. 225
APPENDIX B. SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES AND FIGURES, pg. 241
APPENDIX C. A SIMULATION OF THE 'AUSTRIAN" MODEL OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (WITH MARC ARTZROUNI), pg. 277
BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 291
INDEX, pg. 319