Stephen Broadberry - Research
Further information about research projects, publications and teaching.
See Academic Profile page.
Research Papers and Data
'British Economic Growth, 1270-1870: An Output-based Approach' (with Bruce Campbell, Alexander Klein, Mark Overton and Bas van Leeuwen).
'Aggregate And Per Capita GDP In Europe, 1870-2000: Continental, Regional And National Data With Changing Boundaries'
'Accounting for the Great Divergence'.
'Growing, Shrinking and Long Run Economic Performance: Historical Perspectives on Economic Development', (with John Wallis).
'The Characteristics of Modern Economic Growth Revisited'.
'Anonymity, Efficiency Wages and Technological Progress', (with Sayantan Ghosal and Eugenio Proto).
'Japan and the Great Divergence, 730-1874' (with Jean-Pascal Bassino, Kyoji Fukao, Bishnupriya Gupta and Masanori Takashima).
'How did Japan Catch-up on the West? A Sectoral Analysis of Anglo-Japanese Productivity Differences, 1885-2000', (with Kyoji Fukao and Nick Zammit).
'China, Europe and the Great Divergence: A Study in Historical National Accounting, 980-1850', (with Hanhui Guan and David Daokui Li).
'Economic Development in Africa and Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons', (with Leigh Gardner).
'British Business Cycles, 1270-1870' (with Bruce Campbell, Alexander Klein, Mark Overton and Bas van Leeuwen).
Book Publications
British Economic Growth, 1270-1870, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2015) (with Bruce Campbell, Alexander Klein, Mark Overton and Bas van Leeuwen).
The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, (2 volumes), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2010), (edited with Kevin O'Rourke).
Market Services and the Productivity Race, 1850-2000: Britain in International Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2006, pp.409 + xix).
The Economics of World War I, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2005), pp.345 + xvi, (edited with Harrison, M.).
The Productivity Race: British Manufacturing in International Perspective, 1850-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1997), pp.451 + xxv. Also available in Chinese translation, China Economics Publishing House (2001).
Britain in the International Economy 1870-1939, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1992), pp.426+xiv, (edited with Crafts, N.F.R.).
The British Economy Between the Wars: A Macroeconomic Survey, Oxford: Blackwell (1986), pp.180+vii.
Selected Journal Articles
'Anonymity, Efficiency Wages and Technological Progress', Journal of Development Economics, (forthcoming), (with Sayantan Ghosal and Eugenio Proto).
'Economic Development in Africa and Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons', Revista de Historia Economica, 34 (2016), 11-37 (with Leigh Gardener).
'Seven Centuries of European Economic Growth and Decline', Journal of Economic Perspectives, (forthcoming) (with Roger Fouquet).
'India and the Great Divergence: An Anglo-Indian Comparison of GDP per capita, 1600-1871', Explorations in Economic History, 56 (2015), 58-75, (with Johann Custodis and Bishnupriya Gupta).
'Introduction: The Renaissance of African Economic History', Economic History Review, 67 (2014), 893-906, (with Gareth Austin).
'When Did Britain Industrialise? The Sectoral Distribution of the Labour Force and Labour Productivity in Britain, 1381-1851', Explorations in Economic History, 50 (2013), 16-27 (with Bruce Campbell and Bas van Leeuwen).
'Asia in the Great Divergence: Editors’ Introduction', Economic History Review, 64 (2011), 1-7 (with Steve Hindle).
'When and Why did Eastern European Economies begin to Fail?: Lessons from a Czechoslovak/UK Productivity Comparison, 1921-1991', Explorations in Economic History, 48 (2011), 37-52 (with Alexander Klein).
'Real Wages and Labour Productivity in Britain and Germany, 1871-1938: A Unified Approach to the International Comparison of Living Standards', Journal of Economic History, 70 (2010), 400-427 (with Carsten Burhop).
'The Historical Roots of India’s Service-Led Development: A Sectoral Analysis of Anglo-Indian Productivity Differences, 1870-2000', Explorations in Economic History, 47 (2010), 264-278 (with Bishnupriya Gupta).
'Lancashire, India and Shifting Competitive Advantage in Cotton Textiles, 1700-1850: The Neglected Role of Factor Prices', Economic History Review, 62 (2009), 279-305 (with Bishnupriya Gupta).
'Resolving the Anglo-German Industrial Productivity Puzzle, 1895-1935: A Response to Professor Ritschl', Journal of Economic History, 68 (2008), 930-934 (with Carsten Burhop).
'Comparative Productivity in British and German Manufacturing before World War II: Reconciling Direct Benchmark Estimates and Time Series Projections', Journal of Economic History, 67 (2007), 315-349 (with Carsten Burhop).
'Labor Productivity in the United States and the United Kingdom During the Nineteenth Century', Explorations in Economic History, 43 (2006), 257-279, (with Douglas Irwin).
'The Early Modern Great Divergence: Wages, Prices and Economic Development in Europe and Asia, 1500-1800', Economic History Review, 59 (2006), 2-31, (with Bishnupriya Gupta).
'Explaining Anglo-German Productivity Differences in Services Since 1870', European Review of Economic History, 8 (2004): 229-262. Awarded the Laureano Figuerola Prize for the best article published in the European Review of Economic History in the preceding two years.
'UK Productivity Performance from 1950 to 1979: A Restatement of the Broadberry-Crafts View', Economic History Review, 56 (2003): 718-735, (with Crafts, N.F.R.).
'Relative per capita Income Levels in the United Kingdom and the United States since 1870: Reconciling Time Series Projections and Direct Benchmark Estimates', Journal of Economic History, 63 (2003): 852-863.
'From the Counting House to the Modern Office: Explaining Anglo-American Productivity Differences in Services, 1870-1990', Journal of Economic History, 62 (2002): 967-998, (with Ghosal, S.)
'External Economies of Scale in the Lancashire Cotton Industry, 1900-1939', Economic History Review, 55 (2002): 51-77, (with Marrison, A.)
'How did the United States and Germany Overtake Britain? A Sectoral Analysis of Comparative Productivity Levels, 1870-1990', Journal of Economic History, 58 (1998): 375-407.
'Comparative Productivity in British and American Manufacturing During the Nineteenth Century', Explorations in Economic History, 31 (1994): 521-548.
'Technological Leadership and Productivity Leadership in Manufacturing Since the Industrial Revolution: Implications for the Convergence Debate', Economic Journal, 104 (1994): 291-302.
'Manufacturing and the Convergence Hypothesis: What the Long Run Data Show', Journal of Economic History, 53 (1993): 772-795.
'Britain's Productivity Gap in the 1930s: Some Neglected Factors', Journal of Economic History, 52 (1992): 531-558, (with Crafts, N.F.R.).
'Aggregate Supply in Interwar Britain', Economic Journal, 96 (1986): 467-481.
Teaching
Economic History 1: The Great Divergence
Weeks 1-4: Stephen Broadberry
Weeks 5-8: Brian A'Hearn
EH1: Course Information, Stephen Broadberry
Summary
This part of the course aims to provide an overview of the Great Divergence of productivity and living standards between Europe and Asia. Emphasis is placed on the need to establish firmly the historical “facts” that are to be explained as well as on providing a satisfactory economic explanation.
Topics
1. Economic Growth, 1000-1870
2. Wages, Prices and the Great Divergence
3. Cotton Textiles and the Great Divergence
4. Accounting for the Great Divergence
Selected readings
A full reading list is available as an accompanying document. Selected illustrative readings are as follows:
Broadberry, S., Campbell, B., Klein, A., Overton, M. and van Leeuwen, B. (2015), British Economic Growth, 1270-1870, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Broadberry, S.N. and Gupta, B. (2006), “The Early Modern Great Divergence: Wages, Prices and Economic Development in Europe and Asia, 1500-1800”, Economic History Review, 59, 2-31.
Broadberry, S. and Gupta, B. (2009), “Lancashire, India and Shifting Competitive Advantage in Cotton Textiles, 1700-1850: The Neglected Role of Factor Prices”, Economic History Review, 62, 279-305.
Broadberry, S. (2015), “Accounting for the Great Divergence”
EH1: Reading List 2017