Early Development

Posted: 1 Sep 1999

See all articles by Marvin Goodfriend

Marvin Goodfriend

Carnegie Mellon University - David A. Tepper School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

John McDermott

University of South Carolina - Moore School of Business - Department of Economics

Date Written: January 1994

Abstract

Long-term economic development involves four fundamental processes: the exploitation of increasing returns to specialization, the transition from household to market production, knowledge and human capital accumulation, and industrialization. In this paper, we integrate these processes into a coherent framework for thinking about economic history. Pre-industrial development is driven by increasing returns to specialization made possible by a growing population. Increasing specialization eventually activates a learning technolgy and initiates industrial growth, which carries the economy to a fully market-based balanced growth path. Among other things, we attribute a role to population and market size that is consistent with the evidence.

JEL Classification: N1

Suggested Citation

Goodfriend, Marvin and McDermott, John H., Early Development (January 1994). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5777

Marvin Goodfriend (Contact Author)

Carnegie Mellon University - David A. Tepper School of Business ( email )

5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
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John H. McDermott

University of South Carolina - Moore School of Business - Department of Economics ( email )

The Francis M. Hipp Building
1705 College Street
Columbia, SC 29208
United States

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