The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth
American Economic Review
vol. 95,
no. 3, June 2005
(pp. 546-579)
Abstract
The rise of Western Europe after 1500 is due largely to growth in countries with access to the Atlantic Ocean and with substantial trade with the New World, Africa, and Asia via the Atlantic. This trade and the associated colonialism affected Europe not only directly, but also indirectly by inducing institutional change. Where "initial" political institutions (those established before 1500) placed significant checks on the monarchy, the growth of Atlantic trade strengthened merchant groups by constraining the power of the monarchy, and helped merchants obtain changes in institutions to protect property rights. These changes were central to subsequent economic growth.Citation
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. 2005. "The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth." American Economic Review, 95 (3): 546-579. DOI: 10.1257/0002828054201305Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- F43 Economic Growth of Open Economies
- N13 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: Europe: Pre-1913
- O47 Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence