History matters : essays on economic growth, technology, and demographic change / edited by Timothy W. Guinnane, William A. Sundstrom, and Warren Whatley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Guinnane, Timothy.

Sundstrom, William Andrew.

Whatley, Warren C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history--Congresses.

Economic history.

Economic history--Methodology--Congresses.

Economic development--Congresses.

Economic development.

Technological innovations--Economic aspects--Congresses.

Technological innovations.

Technological innovations--Economic aspects.

Population--Economic aspects--Congresses.

Population.

Population--Economic aspects.

Economic history--Methodology.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Festschriften.

Physical Description:

xiv, 510 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2004.

Summary:

Combining theoretical work with careful historical description and analysis of new data sources, "History Matters" makes a strong case for a more historical approach to economics, both by argument and by example. Seventeen original essays, written by distinguished economists and economic historians, use economic theory and historical cases to explore how and why " history matters."

Contents:

Part I Why History Matters: Path Dependence and Economic Thought

Chapter 1 Path Dependence and Competitive Equilibrium / Kenneth J. Arrow 23

Chapter 2 Path Dependence and Reswitching in a Model of Multi-Technology Adoption / Paul Stoneman 36

Chapter 3 Path Dependence, Network Form, and Technological Change / Douglas J. Puffert 63

Chapter 4 The Tension between Strong History and Strong Economics / Melvin W. Reder 96

Part II Path Dependence in Practice

Chapter 5 Financial History and the Long Reach of the Second Thirty-Years' War / Charles W. Calomiris 115

Chapter 6 Path Dependence in Action: The Adoption and Persistence of the Korean Model of Economic Development / Phillip Wonhyuk Lim 142

Chapter 7 Continuing Confusion: Entry Prices in Telecommunications / Peter Temin 163

Chapter 8 After the War Boom: Reconversion on the Pacific Coast, 1943-1949 / Paul W. Rhode 187

Chapter 9 Standardization, Diversity, and Learning in China's Nuclear Power Program / Geoffrey Rothwell 221

Part III Context Matters: The Influence of Culture, Geography, and Political Institutions on Economies and Policies

Chapter 10 Incentives, Information, and Welfare: England's New Poor Law and the Workhouse Test / Timothy Besley, Stephen Coate, Timothy W. Guinnane 245

Chapter 11 Family Matters: The Life-Cycle Transition and the Antebellum American Fertility Decline / Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, Richard Sutch 271

Chapter 12 Building "Universal Service" in the Early Bell System: The Coevolution of Regional Urban Systems and Long-Distance Telephone Networks / David F. Weiman 328

Chapter 13 International Competition for Technology Investments: Does National Ownership Matter? / Trond E. Olsen 364

Part IV Evidence Matters: Measuring Historical Economic Growth and Demographic Change

Chapter 14 Conjectural Estimates of Economic Growth in the Lower South, 1720 to 1800 / Peter C. Mancall, Joshua L. Rosenbloom, Thomas Weiss 389

Chapter 15 The Value-Added Approach to the Measurement of Economic Growth / Mark Thomas, Charles Feinstein 425

Chapter 16 A User's Guide to the Joys and Pitfalls of Cohort Parity Analysis / Warren C. Sanderson 459

Chapter 17 Stochastic Dynamic Optimization Models with Random Effects in Parameters: An Application to Age at Marriage and Life-Cycle Fertility Control in France Under the Old Regime / Thomas A. Mroz, David R. Weir 483.

Notes:

"The essays collected in this volume were, with two exceptions, presented at a conference in honor of Professor Paul A. David, held at Stanford University on June 2-3, 2000. The conference was sponsored by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)"--Pref.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0804743983

OCLC:

52047537