Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:03:47.890Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Natural resources, electrification and economic growth from the end of the nineteenth century until World War II*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2010

Concha Betrán
Concha Betrán
Affiliation:
Universidad de Valenciaa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The impact that the new energy source, electricity, had on the economic growth of a number of countries –USA, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Canada– characterised by their different coal endowments is the principal objective of this article. The new energy, amongst its other advantages, reduced the dependence on natural resources of coal as it could be generated out of different primary energies: namely water or coal. In order to assess the importance of this reduced dependence, a coal-and-electricity energy database is presented for all six countries. We show that the relative prices electricity-coal were low in countries with poor coal endowments, and we find that there was a negative relationship between relative prices electricity-coal and economic growth. Moreover, there was a relationship between the industrial electrification process in countries with no coal deposits and their investment process, their labour productivity increase, their economic and manufacturing industry growth, and the structural change they underwent.

Resumen

Las repercusiones de la nueva rúente de energía, electricidad, en el crecimiento económico de una muestra de países –Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Francia, Italia, España y Canadá- caracterizados por sus diferentes dotaciones de recursos carboníferos es el principal objetivo de este artículo. La nueva energía, entre otras ventajas, redujo la dependencia de los recursos naturales de carbón al poder generarse a partir de diferentes energías primarias: agua o carbón. Con el fin de valorar la importancia de esta reducción de la dependencia del carbón, se presenta una base de datos de los recursos energéticos para los seis países, se muestra que los precios relativos de la electricidad frente al carbón fueron bajos en los países con mala dotación del segundo, y se detecta una relación negativa entre el precio relativo electricidad-carbón y el crecimiento económico. Además hubo una relación entre el ritmo de la electrificación industrial en los países sin dotación de carbón, su tasa de inversión, el aumento de la productividad del trabajo, el crecimiento económico y del sector manufacturero, y el cambio estructural.

Keywords

recursos carboníferoselectricidadprecios relativos electricidad-carbónelectrificacióncrecimiento económicocoal resourceselectricityrelative prices electricity-coalelectrificationeconomic growth

JEL classification

N70: General, International, or Comparative N50: General, International, or Comparative
Type
Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 2005 , pp. 47 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Annuaire Statistique de la France, 1946: Résume Rétrospectif. Paris.Google Scholar
Antolín, F. (1999): «Iniciativa privada y política pública en el desarrollo de la industria eléctrica en España. La hegemonía de la gestión privada, 1875–1950». Revista de Historia Económica XVII (2), pp. 411–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arroyo, M. (1996): La industria del gas en Barcelona, 1841–1933. Innovación tecnológica, territorio urbano y conflicto de intereses. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal.Google Scholar
Bardini, C. (1994): «Ma il vapore era davvero importante? Consumo energetico e sviluppo industriale di un paese privo di carbone (Italia 1885–1914)». Florence: Instituto Universitario Europeo. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation.Google Scholar
Bardini, C. (1997): «Without Coal in the Age of Steam: A Factor-Endowment Explanation of the Italian Industrial Lag Before World War I». Journal of Economic History 57 (3), pp. 633–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardini, C. (1998): Senza carbone nell'età del vapore. Gli inizi dell'industrializzazione italiana. Milan: Bruno Mondadori.Google Scholar
Bardini, C., and Hertner, P. (1993): «Decollo elettrico e decollo industriale», in Mori, G. (ed.), Storia dell'industria elettrica in Italia. Voi. 1. Le origini. 1882–1914. Bari: Laterza, pp. 201–248.Google Scholar
Barjot, D. (1991): L'energie au XlXe et XXe siècles. Paris: Presses de l'Ecole Normale Supérieur.Google Scholar
Barro, R. J. (1991): «Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries». Quarterly Journal of Economics 106 (2), pp. 407–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bresnahan, T., and Trajtenberg, M. (1995): «General Purpose Technologies: Engines of Growth». Journal of Econometrics 65, pp. 83–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carré, J. J., Dubois, P., and Malinvaud, J. P. (1975):. French Economic Growth. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Carreras, A. (1983): «La producció industrial espanyola i italiana des de mitjan segle XIX fins a l'actualitat», Bellaterra: Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, unpublished Ph.D. thesis.Google Scholar
Carreras, A. (1997): «La industrialización, una perspectiva de largo plazo». Papeles de Economia Española 73, pp. 35–60.Google Scholar
Carreras, A. (coord.) (1989): Estadísticas históricas de España. Siglos X1X–XX. Madrid: Fundación B.anco Exterior.Google Scholar
Coll, S., and Sudrià, C. (1987): El Carbón en España, 1770–1961. Una Historia Economica. Madrid: Turner.Google Scholar
Darmstadler, J. (1971): Energy in the world economy. A statistical review of trends in output, trade, and consumption since 1925. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
David, P. A., and Wright, G. (1999):, «General Purpose Technologies and Surges in Productivity: Historical Reflections on the Future of the ICT Revolution». Oxford: University of Oxford. Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History 31.Google Scholar
De Long, B., and Summers, R. (1991): «Equipment Investment and Economic Growth». Quarterly Journal of Economics 106 (2), pp. 445–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devine, W. D. Jr (1983): «From Shafts to Wires: Historical Perspective on Electrification». Journal of Economic History XLIII (2), pp. 347–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ercolani, P. (1969): «Documentazione statistica di base», in Fua, G.: Lo svilupo economico in Italia. Milan: Franco Angeli Editore, vol. III, pp, 380–460.Google Scholar
Etemad, B., and Luciani, J. (1991): World Energy Production, 1800–1985. Geneva: Libraire Droz.Google Scholar
Feinstein, C. (1972): National Income, Expenditure and Output of the UK, 1855–1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Flora, P. (1973): «Historical processes of social mobilization: urbanization and literacy, 1850–1965» in Eisenstadt, S.N. and Rokkan, S.: Building states and nations. Models and Data Resources. Beverly Hills & London: SAGE Publications, vol. I, pp. 213–258.Google Scholar
Flora, P. (1987): State, economy, and society in Western Europe, 1815–1975: a data handbook in two volumes. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.Google Scholar
Foreman-Peck, J. (1994): «Industry and industrial organisation in the interwar years», in Floud, R. and McCloskey, D. (eds.): The Economic History of Britain since 1700. Cambridge: CUP, vol. 2, pp. 386–414.Google Scholar
Geological Survey Of Canada, The (ed.) (1913): The coal reserves of the World. And inquiry made upon the initiative of the Executive Committee of the XII International Geological Congress. Canada: Toronto, Morang & CO, 3 vols, and Atlas.Google Scholar
Giannetti, R. (1985): La Conquista della Forza. Risorce, Tecnologia ed Economia nell'Industria Elettrica Italiana (1883–1940). Milan: Franco Angeli Libri.Google Scholar
Giannetti, R. (1986): «Elettricità e Industrializzazione dall' «Età del Decollo» alla Seconda Guerra Mondiale». Società e Storia 3, pp.595–618.Google Scholar
Goldin, C., and Katz, L. (1998): «The Origins of Technology-Skill Complementarity». Quarterly Journal of Economics 113 (3), pp. 694–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hannah, L. (1979): Electrification before Nationalisation. A Study of the Development of the Electricity Supply Industry in Britain to 1948. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Harley, C. K. (1989): «Coal Exports and British Shipping, 1850–1913». Explorations in Economic History 26, pp. 311–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helpman, E. (ed.) (1998): General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hoover, E. M. (1948): The Location of Economic Activity. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Hugues, T. P. (1983): Networks of Power. Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Isard, W. (1956): Location and Space-Economy. Cambridge, MA: The MIT. Press.Google Scholar
Jevons, H. S. (1969) [1915] The British Coal Trade. New York: Augustus M. Kelley Publishers.Google Scholar
Krugman, P. (1991): Geography and Trade. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. (1961): Capital in the American Economy. Its formation and Financing. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Landes, D. S. (1969): The Unbound Prometheus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lósch, A. (1954) [1940]: The economics of Location. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Maddison, A. (1995): Monitoring the World Economy. Geneva: O.C.D.E.Google Scholar
Maluquer de Motes, J. (1987): «L'électricité, facteur de développement économique en Espagne: 1900–1936», in Caron, F. (ed.), Un siegle d'électricité dans le monde 1880–1980. Paris: PUF, pp. 57–67.Google Scholar
Ministerio de Trabajo. Dirección General de Estadística (1942): Precios al por mayor y números índices 1913 a 1941. Boletin de Estadística, número extraordinario. Madrid.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B. R. (1962): Abstract of British Historical Statistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B. R. (1998): International Historical Statistics: Europe: 1750–1993. New York: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B. R. (1999): International Historical Statistics: The Americas: 1750–1993. Basingstoke: Macmillan Reference.Google Scholar
Mortara, G. (1934): Nel Cinquentenario della Società Edison, 1884–1934. Milan: Società Generale Italiana Edison, 4 volumes.Google Scholar
Myllyntaus, T. (1991): «The Transfer of Electrical Technology to Finland, 1870–1939». Technology and Cultures 32 (2/1), pp. 293–317.Google Scholar
Nakamura, T. (1971): Economic Growth in Prewar Japan. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Nakamura, T., and Odaka, K. (2003): The Economic History of Japan: 1600–1990. Oxford: Oxford University Press, vol. 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, R. R., and Wright, G. (1992): «The Rise and Fall of American Economic Leadership: the Postwar Europe in Historical Perspective». Journal of Economic Literature 30 (4), pp. 1931–64.Google Scholar
Núñez, C. E. (1992): La fuente de la riqueza. Educación y desarrollo económico en la España contemporánea. Madrid: Alianza.Google Scholar
Prados de la Escosura, L. (2003): El progreso económico de España, 1850–2000. Madrid: FBBV.Google Scholar
Schurr, S. H., and Netschert, B. C. (1960): Energy in the American Economy, 1850–1975. An Economic Study of Its History and Prospects. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Somario di statistiche storique dell'Italia, 1861–1965. (1986). Rome.Google Scholar
Storaci, M. and Tattara, G. (1998): «The External Financing of Italian Electric Companies in the Interwar Years». European Review of Economic History 2 (3), pp. 345–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sudrià, C. (1983): «Notas sobre la implantación y el desarrollo de la industria del gas en España, 1840–1901». Revista de Historia Económica I (2), pp. 97–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sudrià, C. (1987): «Un factor determinante: la energía», in Nadal, J., Carreras, A. and Sudrià, C. (comps.), La Economía española en el siglo XX. Una perspectiva histórica. Barcelona: Ariel, pp. 313–327.Google Scholar
Sudrià, C. (1990): «La industria eléctrica y el desarrollo económico en España», in García Delgado, J.L. (dir.), Electricidad y desarrollo económico: perspectiva histórica de un siglo. Oviedo: Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico.Google Scholar
Sudrià, C. (1995): «Energy as a Limiting Factor to Growth», in Martín-Aceña, P. and Simpson, J. (eds.), The Economic Development of Spain since 1870. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, pp. 268–309.Google Scholar
Sudrià, C. (1997): «La restricción energética al desarrollo económico de España». Papeles de Economía Española 73, pp. 165–188.Google Scholar
Svennilson, I. (1959): Growth and Stagnation in the European Economy. Geneva: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.Google Scholar
Urquhart, M. C., et al. (1983): Historical Statistics of Canada. Toronto: MacMillan.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce (1931): Power-Using Industries of Italy. Washington: Government Printing Office, Trade Information Bulletin No. 772.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce (1975): Historical Statistics of the US, Colonial Times to 1970. Washington DC: Bureau of the Census.Google Scholar
Woolf, E. A. (1984): «Electricity, Productivity, and Labor Saving: American Manufacturing, 1900–1929». Explorations in Economic History 21, pp. 176–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, G. (1990): «The Origins of America Industrial Success, 1879–1940». The American Economic Review 80 (4), pp. 651–667.Google Scholar
Wrigley, E. A. (1988): Continuity, Chance and Change. The Character of the Industrial Revolution in England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wylie, P. J. (1989): «Technological Adaptation in Canada Manufacturing, 1900–1929». Journal of Economic History XLIX (3), pp. 569–591.0CrossRefGoogle Scholar