Abstract
The evolution of economies during the major portion of human history was marked by Malthusian stagnation. The transition from an epoch of stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth has shaped the contemporary world economy and has led to the great divergence in income per capita across the globe in the past two centuries. This article examines the process of development over the course of human history in light of recent advances in unified growth theory.
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Bibliography
Crafts, N.F.R. 1985. British economic growth during the industrial revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Doepke, M. 2004. Accounting for fertility decline during the transition to growth. Journal of Economic Growth 9: 347–383.
Durlauf, S.N., and D. Quah. 1999. The new empirics of economic growth. In Handbook of macroeconomics, ed. J.B. Taylor and M. Woodford. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Flora, P., F. Kraus, and W. Pfenning. 1983. State, Economy and Society in Western Europe 1815–1975. Chicago: St. James Press.
Galor, O. 2005. From stagnation to growth: unified growth theory. In Handbook of economic growth, ed. P. Aghion and S.N. Duraluf. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Galor, O., and O. Moav. 2002. Natural selection and the origin of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 117: 1133–1192.
Galor, O., and O. Moav. 2006. Das human kapital: A theory of the demise of the class structure. Review of Economic Studies 73: 85–117.
Galor, O., and A. Mountford . 2003. Trading population for productivity. Working paper, Brown University.
Galor, O., and A. Mountford. 2006. Trade and the great divergence: The family connection. American Economic Review 96: 299–303.
Galor, O., and D.N. Weil. 1999. From Malthusian stagnation to modern growth. American Economic Review 89: 150–154.
Galor, O., and D.N. Weil. 2000. Population, technology and growth: from the Malthusian regime to the demographic transition and beyond. American Economic Review 110: 806–828.
Green, A. 1990. Education and state formation. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Hansen, G., and E. Prescott. 2002. Malthus to Solow. American Economic Review 92: 1205–1217.
Hazan, M., and B. Berdugo. 2002. Child labor, fertility and economic growth. Economic Journal 112: 810–828.
Jones, C.I. 2001. Was an industrial revolution inevitable? Economic growth over the very long run. Advances in Macroeconomics 1: 1–43.
Lagerlof, N. 2003. From Malthus to modern growth: the three regimes revisited. International Economic Review 44: 755–777.
Lagerlof, N. 2006. The Galor–Weil model revisited: a quantitative exploration. Review of Economic Dynamics 9: 116–142.
Lucas, R.E. 2002. The industrial revolution: Past and future. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Maddison, A. 2001. The world economy: A millennia perspective. Paris: OECD.
Mokyr, J. 1993. The new economic history and the industrial revolution. In The British industrial revolution: An economic perspective, ed. J. Mokyr. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Sanderson, M. 1995. Education, Economic Change and Society in England 1780–1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2008 The Author(s)
About this entry
Cite this entry
Galor, O. (2008). Economic Growth in the Very Long Run. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_2819-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_2819-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences