Japan's regional convergence of productivity levels throughout the twentieth century can be best described as a cumulative process of 'catching up, forging ahead, and falling behind'. Using a novel dataset spanning 135 years (1874-2008), this study finds support for a crucial role played by structural transformation in convergence. The pace of productivity catch-up and convergence accelerated in the mid-1950s with the help of structural transformation, particularly in the period from 1955 to 1965. Structural transformation explains, on average, about 30 per cent of the aggregate productivity growth, and its effect intensified in prefectures with faster movements of labour across sectors and larger sectoral productivity gaps. However, since the early 1970s, its contribution to the convergence was frequently offset by within-sector productivity growth, in turn thwarting the pace of convergence. These counter-balancing effects contributed to the diverse pathways of productivity catch-up at the prefecture level.
This study examines social-class and urban-rural differentials in childhood mortality in Sweden from 1880 to 1910, a period of steady mortality decline, ongoing industrialization, and urbanization. Urbanization brought improvements in water quality and sanitation but also increased risks from overcrowding, pollution, and infectious diseases. It remains unexplored whether these changes narrowed or widened the class gap in infant and child mortality. We use full-count Swedish censuses linked to the Swedish Death Index (SDI), which provides near-comprehensive coverage of all deaths and allows for reliable estimation of mortality in ages 1-9 years. Detailed census data enable analysis of parental household characteristics. Due to undercounting of infant deaths, we use under-five sex ratios as a proxy for infant mortality. Results show a strong urban penalty in both infant and child mortality in the late nineteenth century, which diminished in the early twentieth century. Pronounced class differences existed in child mortality in both urban and rural areas but not in infant mortality. Although absolute class differences narrowed over time, relative inequalities persisted in urban areas but largely disappeared in rural settings. These findings reveal substantial inequalities in child survival during industrialization linked to both urban residence and social class.
We study the patent system of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-30), a post-Napoleonic state which brought together an early industrializing region that subsequently became Belgium with a later-industrializing one comprising what is now the Netherlands. The system formally distinguished between patents of invention and patents of importation, protecting both domestic inventions and the introduction of foreign technologies. It also granted administrators considerable discretion over patent fees, terms, and conditions. Using a new hand-collected dataset covering all patent applications, including those granted, withdrawn, and rejected, we analyse application outcomes across sectors, regions, and patent types. We show that administrators systematically differentiated between patents of invention and importation in ways consistent with a technology policy that encouraged the domestic introduction of useful foreign technologies. We also find that administrative decisions reflected assessments of novelty, utility, and applicant characteristics, without evidence of systematic discrimination. Despite high fees, the system remained broadly accessible across social classes. Patents of invention were more commonly associated with technically skilled inventors, whereas patents of importation were more often sought by commercially oriented applicants. Overall, the regime combined accessibility with substantive screening and illustrates how discretionary patent administration could support technology transfer during a formative period of industrialization.
This paper presents a comprehensive long-run analysis of regional productivity convergence in T & uuml;rkiye using a novel dataset combining newly compiled employment estimates with recent output estimates. The seven-decade analysis reveals substantial productivity convergence driven by labour reallocation away from agriculture alongside within-industry convergence. A distinctive pattern emerges: aggregate economic concentration proceeded together with productivity convergence, with distinct regional clusters forming. Furthermore, shift-share decomposition shows industry-mix effects persistently explain significant regional productivity variation, reflecting sustained agriculture-other sectors productivity differences, with western regions enjoying both favourable sectoral composition and regional competitiveness advantages. From a policy perspective, agricultural productivity improvements offer significant potential for reducing regional disparities.
