This article argues that a natural implication of an innovation-based theory of growth is that slow development facilitates the formation of special interest groups. We demonstrate this in a growth model where innovations take the form of new goods and new production processes, and where factor...

We explore the relationship between capital accumulation, trade, and the development of property rights. In our analysis, the development of property rights is an endogenous process, driven by capital accumulation. Property rights are defined as institutions that internalize the portion of the...

Why is the adoption of more productive technologies more fiercely resisted in some societies than in others? This paper examines the role of market size and free trade in determining whether firms or workers resist the adoption of more advanced technologies. It puts forth a model whereby the...

This paper puts forth a unified theory of growth that captures a number of relevant features of countries' transitions from stagnant, predominantly rural economies to vibrant, industrialized economies that have been overlooked by the literature. In our theory, increasing variety of consumer...

Why did the Industrial Revolution start sometime in the 18th century in England and not earlier and in some other country? This paper argues that the key to the start of the Industrial Revolution was the expansion and integration of markets that preceded it. Due to less regulation, increasing...