Using Swedish historical national accounts, this paper shows that, up to the 1970s, there has been a secular rise in the national capital/output ratio and a secular fall in the rate of exploitation, which tended to depress the profit rate. In Sweden, the nominal capital/output ratio increased...

A review of the literature on historical comparisons of levels of development suggests that disparities between now and advanced and lagging countries around 1760 were most likely quite small and, if extreme observations at both ends are excluded, probably nonexistent. When purchasing power...

Sidney Pollard was a labor historian who pioneered the study of economic management in history and the understanding of the economic processes by which regions are formed. This article addresses three key moments in his work: his early studies of the genesis of industrial management, his later...

This article aims to begin to fill a gap in the literature by offering a comprehensive critique of Douglass North’s work with emphasis on his historical studies. After a brief overview of his theoretical contributions, a closer scrutiny of his theory in its application to history is...