RT Generic
T1 Agriculture in Europe's little divergence: the case of Spain
A1 Álvarez Nogal, Carlos
A1 Prados de la Escosura, Leandro
A1 Santiago Caballero, Carlos
A2 Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, 
A2 Universidad Carlos Iii De Madrid, 
AB This paper explores the role of agriculture in Spain's contribution to the little divergence in Europe. On the basis of tithes collected by historians over the years, long-run trends in agricultural output are drawn. After a long period of relative stability, output suffered a severe contraction during 1570-1590, followed by milder deterioration to 1650. Output per head moved from a relatively high to a low path that persisted until the Peninsular War. The demand contraction, resulting from the collapse of domestic markets, monetary instability, and war in Iberia, helps to explain a less intensive use of labour and land as incentives to produce for the market sharply diminished. Agricultural output per head moved along population up to 1750. This finding confirms the view of Spain as a land abundant frontier economy. Only in the late eighteenth century a Malthusian pattern emerged.
SN 2341-2542
YR 2015
FD 2015-06
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10016/21152
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10016/21152
LA eng
NO Our research has been supported by Spain’s Ministerio de Economía yCompetitividad Grant ECO2012-38028.
DS e-Archivo
RD 30 abr. 2024