2017/09/06 by Bas van Bavel, Eltjo Buringh, Jessica Dijkman · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Archaeology #Capital (architecture) #Capital good #Colonialism, slavery, and trade #Development economics #Divergence (linguistics) #Economics #Economy #European union #Geography #Goods and services #Great Divergence #Historical Economic and Legal Thought #Historical Economic and Social Studies #International trade #Middle Ages #Middle East #Ninth #Western europe
paper · doi:10.1111/ehr.12571
openalex publication_date 2017/09/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11
Abstract This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the causes of the great divergence by comparing the use of expensive labour‐saving capital goods—water‐mills, windmills, and cranes—in medieval western Europe and the Middle East. Using novel ways of measuring, we find that whereas the use of these goods increased in Europe, in the Middle East their prevalence decreased, or they were not used at all. We investigate several possible explanations and reject most of them, including religion, geography, technological knowledge, and disparities in wages and cost of capital. Our analysis shows that differences in lordship systems and the security of property rights best explain the patterns found.