Late Industrialisation in Europe: A Comparison between Poland and Spain since the Pre-industrial Times

Research question/goal: 

The main question of the planned project is, why Spain and Poland were not until recently very successful in their economic development. It is thought that the comparison of two countries which are in many respects rather similar will make possible the identification of factors supporting and detrimental to development. In this also lies the relevance of the project for development policy. Important hypotheses are: - Underdevelopment is in the last resort an effect of internal structures of societies. - Has underdevelopment once occured, it constitutes an additional barrier to successful development. - Socialist central planning is more suitable to achieve a process of extensive growth than public interventions in a basically capitalist economy. Extensive growth generally characterizes the first phase of industrialization. However, if the system is not changed later on, socialism becomes another barrier to development, because intensive growth proves to be impossible. - External influences which weaken national elites oriented towards their short-term self-interest can decisively further development.

Fact sheet

Duration: 
1995 to 1998
Status: 
completed
Geographic Space: 
Spain, Poland

Publications