Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth
- ISBN-10
- 0195098668
- ISBN-13
- 9780195098662
- Series
- Divergent Paths
- Category
- Comparative economics
- Pages
- 300
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1996
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press on Demand
- Author
- Marc Egnal
Description
Why are some countries without an apparent abundance of natural resources, such as Japan, economic success stories, while other languish in the doldrums of slow growth. In this comprehensive look at North American economic history, Marc Egnal argues that culture and institutions play an integral role in determining economic outcome. He focuses his examination on the eight colonies of the North, five colonies of the South (which together made up the original thirteen states), and French Canada. Using census data, diaries, travelers' accounts, and current scholarship, Egnal systematically explores how institutions (such as slavery in the South and the seigneurial system in French Canada) and cultural arenas (such as religion, literacy, entrepreneurial spirit, and intellectual activity) influenced development. He seeks to answer why three societies with similar standards of living in 1750 became so dissimilar in development. By the mid-nineteenth century, the northern states had surged ahead in growth, and this gap continued to widen into the twentieth century. Egnal argues that culture and institutions allowed this growth in the North, not resources or government policies. Both the South and French Canada stressed hierarchy and social order more than the drive for wealth. Rarely have such parallels been drawn between these two societies. Complete numerous helpful appendices, figures, tables, and maps, Divergent Paths is a rich source of unique perspectives on economic development with strong implications for emerging societies.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2015-06-01
- 360 pages
- Ebook
- Manchester University Press
Similar books
-
Divergent Paths of the Restoration: A History of the Latter Day Saint Movement
By Steven L. ShieldsDivergent Paths of the Restoration: A History of the Latter Day Saint Movement
-
Divergent Paths: Economic Mobility in the New American Labor Market
By Annette Bernhardt, Martina Morris, Mark S. HandcockEdwards, Richard C. 1979. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century. New York: Basic Books. ... Freeman, Richard B. 1976. The Overeducated American. New York: Academic Press. . 1995.
-
Divergent Paths in Post-Communist Transformation: Capitalism for All or Capitalism for the Few?
By O. Havrylyshyn... independence movement (Rukh) had not explicitly and willingly made what Kuzio (1997) called a 'Faustian bargain' with the former communists led by Kravchuk. The latter guaranteed to support independence and the former agreed to let the ...
-
Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth
By Marc Egnal Professor of History York University... la Conquête au Québec," Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française, XXXV (1981), 69-95, argues that the English Conquest gave a boost to economic development. 19. Lemon, Best Poor Man's Country; Lemon, "Comment on James A. Henretta's ...
-
Divergent Paths to College: Race, Class, and Inequality in High Schools
By Megan M HollandMegan M. Holland examines how high schools structure different pathways that lead to very different college destinations based on race and class.
-
Divergent Paths
By Steven L. ShieldsThe fourth edition of this book provides insight into the histories and theologies of the varied churches within the Restoration movement.
-
Emergent Economies, Divergent Paths: Economic Organization and International Trade in South Korea and Taiwan
By Robert C. Feenstra, Gary G. HamiltonAs Wade (1991, p. 71) remarks: The positions of president of the Republic, chairman of the party, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces have been held by only two individuals, Chiang Kai-shek up to 1975, and his son, ...
-
North Korea and Myanmar: Divergent Paths
By Andray AbrahamianEmma Larkin, No Bad News for the King (New York: Penguin, 2011): 29–31. 108. Author interview, August 2016. 109. Tin Maung Maung Than, “Myanmar in 2008: Weathering the Storm,” Southeast Asian Affairs (2009): 204. 110.
-
India, Pakistan, and Democracy: Solving the Puzzle of Divergent Paths
By Philip OldenburgThis book looks at India and Pakistan, two countries with clearly contrasting political regime histories, and presents an argument on why India is a democracy and Pakistan is not.
-
Divergent Paths: Musings on Life in Poetry and Prose
By Joyce M. SandersJoyce M. Sanders is inspired by the beauty, the absurdity, the wonder, and the perplexity of everyday life, and candidly shares her views in this, her second volume of poetry.