IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v51y2019i3p670-686.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Phase transitions as a cause of economic development

Author

Listed:
  • David Emanuel Andersson
  • Ã…ke E. Andersson

Abstract

Economic development spans centuries and continents. Underlying infrastructural causes of development, such as institutions and networks, are subject to slow but persistent change. Accumulated infrastructural changes eventually become so substantial that they trigger a phase transition. Such transitions disrupt the prior conditions for economic activities and network interdependencies, requiring radically transformed production techniques, organizations and location patterns. The interplay of economic equilibria and structural changes requires a theoretical integration of the slow time scale of infrastructural change and the fast time scale of market equilibration. This paper presents a theory that encompasses both rapidly and slowly changing variables and illustrates how infrequent phase transitions caused four logistical revolutions in Europe over the past millennium.

Suggested Citation

  • David Emanuel Andersson & Ã…ke E. Andersson, 2019. "Phase transitions as a cause of economic development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(3), pages 670-686, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:51:y:2019:i:3:p:670-686
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X18803112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X18803112
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X18803112?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kindleberger, C.P., 1998. "Economic and Financial Crises and Transformations in Sixteenth-Century Europe," Princeton Essays in International Economics 208, International Economics Section, Departement of Economics Princeton University,.
    2. C. Knick Harley, 2013. "Slavery, the British Atlantic Economy and the Industrial Revolution," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _113, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. David Emanuel Andersson & Åke E. Andersson & Charlotta Mellander (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Creative Cities," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13973.
    4. Christian Wichmann Matthiessen & Annette Winkel Schwarz & Søren Find, 2011. "Research Nodes and Networks," Chapters, in: David Emanuel Andersson & Åke E. Andersson & Charlotta Mellander (ed.), Handbook of Creative Cities, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Douglass C. North, 2005. "Introduction to Understanding the Process of Economic Change," Introductory Chapters, in: Understanding the Process of Economic Change, Princeton University Press.
    6. Smale, Steve, 1976. "A convergent process of price adjustment and global newton methods," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 107-120, July.
    7. Åke E. Andersson & David Emanuel Andersson, 2017. "Time, Space and Capital," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15590.
    8. Andersson, Åke E. & Andersson, David Emanuel & Daghbashyan, Zara & Hårsman, Björn, 2014. "Location and spatial clustering of artists," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 128-137.
    9. Koppl, Roger & Whitman, Douglas Glen, 2004. "Rational-choice hermeneutics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 295-317, November.
    10. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Introduction to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
    11. Wrigley,E. A., 2010. "Energy and the English Industrial Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521131858, October.
    12. Bernholz, Peter & Kugler, Peter, 2007. "The Price Revolution in the 16th Century: Empirical Results from a Structural Vectorautoregression Model," Working papers 2007/12, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    13. Hurwicz, Leonid, 1973. "The Design of Mechanisms for Resource Allocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 1-30, May.
    14. Findlay, R., 1990. "The " Triangular Trade" And The Atlantic Economy Of The Eighteenth Centrury: A Simple General-Equilibrium Model," Princeton Studies in International Economics 177, International Economics Section, Departement of Economics Princeton University,.
    15. Roger Koppl, 2002. "Big Players and the Economic Theory of Expectations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-62924-0, December.
    16. Wrigley,E. A., 2010. "Energy and the English Industrial Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521766937, October.
    17. Saari, Donald G & Simon, Carl P, 1978. "Effective Price Mechanisms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(5), pages 1097-1125, September.
    18. David Emanuel Andersson & Saileshsingh Gunessee & Christian Wichmann Matthiessen & Søren Find, 2014. "The Geography of Chinese Science," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(12), pages 2950-2971, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stefano Moroni & Ward Rauws & Stefano Cozzolino, 2020. "Forms of self-organization: Urban complexity and planning implications," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(2), pages 220-234, February.
    2. Stefano Cozzolino, 2020. "The (anti) adaptive neighbourhoods. Embracing complexity and distribution of design control in the ordinary built environment," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(2), pages 203-219, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John E. Murray & Javier Silvestre, 2020. "Integration in European coal markets, 1833–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 668-702, August.
    2. Vania Licio, 2023. "The Italian coal shortage: the price of import and distribution, 1861–1911," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 17(3), pages 501-532, September.
    3. Klas Rönnbäck, 2014. "Slave ownership and fossil fuel usage: a commentary," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 1-9, January.
    4. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Institutions as cognitive media between strategic interactions and individual beliefs," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 17, pages 298-312, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Tuinstra, J., 2000. "Price adjustment in a model of monopolistic competition," CeNDEF Working Papers 00-13, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in Economics and Finance.
    6. Humphries, Jane & Thomas, Ryah, 2023. "The best job in the world: breadwinning and the capture of household labor in nineteenth and early twentieth-century British coalmining," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112186, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Herings, Jean-Jacques & van der Laan, Gerard & Venniker, Richard, 1998. "The transition from a Dreze equilibrium to a Walrasian equilibrium1," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 303-330, April.
    8. Félix-Fernando Muñoz & María-Isabel Encinar, 2019. "Some elements for a definition of an evolutionary efficiency criterion," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 919-937, July.
    9. B. Zorina Khan, 2018. "Human capital, knowledge and economic development: evidence from the British Industrial Revolution, 1750–1930," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 12(2), pages 313-341, May.
    10. Cormac Ó Gráda, 2016. "Did Science Cause the Industrial Revolution?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 224-239, March.
    11. Moreno-Cruz, Juan & Taylor, M. Scott, 2020. "Food, Fuel and the Domesday Economy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Dimitrios Theodoridis & Paul Warde & Astrid Kander, 2016. "Trade and overcoming land constraints in the British Industrial Revolution: the role of coal and cotton revisited," Working Papers 16027, Economic History Society.
    13. Alex Trew, 2014. "Spatial Takeoff in the First Industrial Revolution," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(4), pages 707-725, October.
    14. Wen, Yi, 2021. "China's industrial revolution: A new perspective," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    15. Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, 2015. "Economic Impossibilities for our Grandchildren?," NBER Working Papers 21807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Cavalli, Fausto & Naimzada, Ahmad, 2015. "A tâtonnement process with fading memory, stabilization and optimal speed of convergence," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 116-129.
    17. Herrmann, John D. & Kahn, Peter J., 1999. "A continuity property for local price adjustment mechanisms," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 419-453, May.
    18. Agovino, Massimiliano & Bartoletto, Silvana & Garofalo, Antonio, 2019. "Modelling the relationship between energy intensity and GDP for European countries: An historical perspective (1800–2000)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 114-134.
    19. Pearson, Peter J.G. & Foxon, Timothy J., 2012. "A low carbon industrial revolution? Insights and challenges from past technological and economic transformations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 117-127.
    20. Sorrell, Steve, 2015. "Reducing energy demand: A review of issues, challenges and approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 74-82.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:51:y:2019:i:3:p:670-686. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.