Nutrition and Economic Development in the Eighteenth-Century Habsburg Monarchy : : An Anthropometric History / / John Komlos.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton Legacy Lib. eBook Package 1980-1999
• VerfasserIn: Komlos, John,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2014]; ©1989
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library ; 1010
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (344 p.)

John Komlos examines the industrial expansion of Austria from a fresh viewpoint and develops a new model for the industrial revolution. By integrating recent advances in the study of human biology and nutrition as they relate to physical stature, population growth, and levels of economic development, he reveals an intense Malthusian crisis in the Habsburg lands during the second half of the eighteenth century. At that time food shortages brought about by the accelerated population growth of the 1730s forced the government to adopt a reform program that opened the way for the beginning of the industrial revolution in Austria and in the Czech Crownlands. Comparing this "Austrian model" of economic growth to the industrial revolution in Britain, Komlos argues that the model is general enough to explain demographic and economic growth elsewhere in Europe--despite obvious regional differences. The main feature of the model is the interplay between a persistent, even if small, tendency to accumulate capital and a population with an underlying tendency to grow in numbers while remaining subject to Malthusian checks, particularly a limited availability of food. According to Komlos, modern economic growth in Europe began when the food constraint was finally lifted.Originally published in 1989.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF FIGURES -- LIST OF TABLES -- PREFACE -- INTRODUCTION -- THE "AUSTRIAN" MODEL -- 1. The Theory of Anthropometric History -- 2. Human Stature in East-Central Europe: The Eighteenth Century -- 3. Institutional Change under Pressure: Government Policy in an Enlightened Despotism -- 4. Conclusion -- EXTENSIONS -- 5. The "Austrian" Model and the Industrial Revolution in England -- 6. Pre-industrial Economic Growth: A Generahzation of the "Austrian" Model -- APPENDIX A. RECRUITING PRACTICES OF THE HABSBURG ARMY -- APPENDIX B. SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES AND FIGURES -- APPENDIX C. A SIMULATION OF THE «AUSTRIAN" MODEL OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (WITH MARC ARTZROUNI) -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX