Boerner, Lars and Severgnini, Battista (2015) Time for growth. Economic History working paper series (222/2015). London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
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Abstract
This paper studies the impact of the early adoption of one of the most important high-technology machines in history, the public mechanical clock, on long-run growth in Europe. We avoid en- dogeneity by considering the relationship between the adoption of clocks with two sets of instru- ments: distance from the first adopters and the appearance of repeated solar eclipses. The latter instrument is motivated by the predecessor technologies of mechanical clocks, astronomic instru- ments that measured the course of heavenly bodies. We find significant growth rates between 1500 and 1700 in the range of 30 percentage points in early adoptor cities and areas.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Working Paper) |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/home.aspx |
| Additional Information: | © 2015 The Authors |
| Divisions: | LSE |
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General) T Technology > T Technology (General) |
| JEL classification: | N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations > N13 - Europe: Pre-1913 N - Economic History > N9 - Regional and Urban History > N93 - Europe: Pre-1913 O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Nov 2015 16:26 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Sep 2025 04:41 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/64495 |
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