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Byzantine Economic Growth: Did Climate Change Play a Role?

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  • Lambert, Thomas

Abstract

Different chroniclers of the history of the Byzantine Empire have noted various economic data gleamed from historical documents and accounts of the empire at different periods of time. Research for this paper has not uncovered any estimates of long term, annual macroeconomic data (gross domestic product (GDP), national income (NI), etc.) for the empire during its existence. Such data has been estimated to one extent or another for other nations and societies that have existed during the middle ages. This paper attempts to provide conjectures on approximate real GDP per capita trends for the empire over its existence from AD 300 to 1453. Finally, some hypotheses on factors that would have affected Byzantine economic performance are tested using climate/environmental factors. The results of this paper appear to confirm some findings on how the Byzantine economy might have been affected by periods of regional climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Lambert, Thomas, 2021. "Byzantine Economic Growth: Did Climate Change Play a Role?," MPRA Paper 107898, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:107898
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    4. Laiou,Angeliki E. & Morrisson,Cécile, 2007. "The Byzantine Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521849784, October.
    5. Jscques Melitz, 1971. "Some Further Reassessment Of The Scholastic Doctrine Of Usury," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 473-492, August.
    6. Morgan Kelly & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2014. "Debating the Little Ice Age," Working Papers 201406, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    7. Milanovic, Branko, 2010. "Income level and income inequality in the Euro-Mediterranean region: from the Principate to the Islamic conquest," MPRA Paper 46640, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Laiou,Angeliki E. & Morrisson,Cécile, 2007. "The Byzantine Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521615020, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Byzantine Empire; climate change; real GDP per capita; empire size;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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