The Great Divergence Reconsidered
Europe, India, and the Rise to Global Economic Power

In stark contrast to popular narratives, The Great Divergence Reconsidered shows that Europe's rise to an undisputed world economic leader was not the effect of the Industrial Revolution, and cannot be explained by coal or colonial exploitation. Using a wealth of new historical evidence stretching from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, Roman Studer shows that this 'Great Divergence' must be shifted back to the seventeenth century, if not earlier. Europe was characterized by a more powerful transportation system, bigger trade flows, larger and better integrated markets, higher productivity levels, and superior living standards even before the Industrial Revolution brought about far-reaching structural changes and made Europe's supremacy even more pronounced. While the comparison with Europe draws significantly on India, the central conclusions seem to hold for Asia - and indeed the rest of the world - more generally. An interplay of various factors best explains Europe's early and gradual rise, including better institutions, favorable geographical features, increasing political stability, and increasingly rapid advances in science and technology.

Reviews & endorsements

'Adam Smith's central thesis was that efficient markets generate economic growth. This lively book revives the Smithian tradition. Efficient markets create growth, and efficient markets were unique to pre-industrial Europe. This is an important contribution to the debate on why the West rather than the East experienced the Industrial Revolution.' Gregory Clark, University of California, Davis

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Product details

• Date Published: June 2017
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9781107679979
• length: 243 pages

• dimensions: 230 x 152 x 13 mm
• weight: 0.36kg
• contains: 30 b/w illus. 10 maps 9 tables
• availability: Available