These fourteen essays covering a wide range of subjects of great current interest reflect the continuous evolution of the author’s thought from 1951 to 1961. Range and flexibility characterize Alexander Gerschenkron’s dynamic approach to Europe’s industrial history. Connecting evolution in individual countries with their degree of economic backwardness, he presents the industrialization of the continent as a “case of unity in diversity,” thus offering a cogent alternative, supported by case studies, to the traditional view of industrialization as monotonous repetition of the same process from country to country. Brought together for the first time, these essays were originally published in specialized periodicals in the United States and abroad.
Explaining and systematizing the elements of creative innovation in industrial history, Gerschenkron opens new paths of research and poses a number of pertinent questions for the problem of economic development in backward countries. His versatile analysis not only includes construction of ingenious industrial output indices and fruitful historical hypotheses on the index-number problem, but also original insights gleaned from a study of Soviet novels and a brilliant critique of Doctor Zhivago.
Author(s): Alexander Gerschenkron
Publisher: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
Year: 1962
Language: English
Commentary: Searchable (OCR), paginated version of the book's scan.
Pages: 456
City: Harvard, MA
Contents
Introduction
Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective
The Elements of Backwardness
The Banks
The State
The Gradations of Backwardness
Ideologies of Delayed Industrializations
Conclusions
Reflections on the Concept of “Prerequisites” of Modern Industrialisation
I
II
III
IV
Social A*ttitudes. Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development
Notes on the Rate of Industrial Growth in Italy, 1881—1913
I
II
Ill
Rosario Romeo and the Original Accumulation of Capital
I
II
III
Russia: Patterns and Problems of Economic Development, 1861—1958
I
II
III
Economic Development in Russian Intellectual History of the Nineteenth Century
I
II
III
Realism and Utopia in Russian Economic 'Thought A Review
Some Aspects of Industrialisation in Bulgaria, 1878—1939
I
II
Soviet Heavy Industry: A Dollar Index of Output, 1927-1937
I
II
III
IV
Notes on the Rate of Industrial Growth in Soviet Russia
I
II
III
IV
Industrial Enterprise, in Soviet Russia
A Neglected Source of Economic Information on Soviet Russia
Reflections on Soviet Novels
I
II
III
-Notes on Doctor Zhivago
The Approach to European Industrialization: A postscript
APPENDIX IDescription of an Index of Italian Industrial Development, 1881-1913
Two Previous Attempts
The Present Index: General Characteristics
The Present Index: Subseries
Mining
Textiles
Engineering
Foodstuff's Industry
Chemical industry
Employment
Horsepowers
Value-added estimates, 1903—04
Metalmaking
Textiles
Engineering
Foodstuff's industry
Chemical industry
An Appraisal of the Index
Tagliacarne’s Index and the Present Index: Comparison of the Component Series
The Index of Silvio GolzioThe Index of Silvio Golzio
APPENDIX IIIndustrialization in Bulgaria: Basic Data and Calculations
APPENDIX IIIProblems in Measuring Long-Term Growth in Income and Wealth
Index
