Without coal in the age of steam and dams in the age of electricity: An explanation for the failure of Portugal to industrialize before the Second World War

Sofia Teives Henriques, Paul Sharp

Forskningsoutput: TidskriftsbidragArtikel i vetenskaplig tidskriftPeer review

Sammanfattning

We provide a natural resource explanation for the divergence of the Portuguese economy relative to other European countries before the Second World War. First, we demonstrate that a lack of domestic resources meant that Portugal experienced limited and unbalanced growth during the age of steam. Imports of coal were prohibitively expensive for inland areas. Coastal areas industrialized through steam but were constrained by limited demand from the interior. Second, we show that after the First World War, when other coal-poor countries turned to hydro-power, Portugal relied on coal-based thermal-power, creating a vicious circle of high-energy prices and labor-intensive industrialization.

Originalspråkengelska
Sidor (från-till)85-105
Antal sidor21
TidskriftEuropean Review of Economic History
Volym25
Nummer1
DOI
StatusPublished - 2021

Bibliografisk information

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Historical Economics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions.

Ämnesklassifikation (UKÄ)

  • Nationalekonomi

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