India and the great divergence: an Anglo-Indian comparison of GDP per capita, 1600–1871

Broadberry, Stephen, Custodis, Johann and Gupta, Bishnupriya (2015) India and the great divergence: an Anglo-Indian comparison of GDP per capita, 1600–1871. Explorations in Economic History, 55. pp. 58-75. ISSN 0014-4983

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Abstract

Estimates of Indian GDP are constructed from the output side for 1600-1871, and combined with population data. Indian per capita GDP declined steadily during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries before stabilising during the nineteenth century. As British growth increased from the mid-seventeenth century, India fell increasingly behind. Whereas in 1600, Indian per capita GDP was over 60% of the British level, by 1871 it had fallen to less than 15%. These estimates place the origins of the Great Divergence firmly in the early modern period, but also suggest a relatively prosperous India at the height of the Mughal Empire. They also suggest a period of "strong" deindustrialisation during the first three decades of the nineteenth century, with a small decline of industrial output rather than just a declining share of industry in economic activity.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.journals.elsevier.com/explorations-in-e...
Additional Information:	© 2015 Elsevier Inc.
Divisions:	Economics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
JEL classification:	N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations > N10 - General, International, or Comparative N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income, and Wealth > N30 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: General, International, or Comparative (Migration) N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income, and Wealth > N35 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: Asia including Middle East O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O57 - Comparative Studies of Countries
Date Deposited:	28 May 2014 10:52
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2024 03:54
Projects:	SSH7-CT-2008-225342
Funders:	European Commission's 7th Framework Programme for Research
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/56838

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