Integration in European coal markets, 1833–1913

Murray, John E. ; Silvestre, Javier (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: This article analyses coal market integration in Europe over the long nineteenth century. The market integration of coal, a key commodity associated with the industrial revolution, is an aspect of European economic history that has received little attention. The literature on the evolution of markets has concentrated on agricultural products, mostly cereals. This article examines intra- and international market integration in the principal coal-producing countries, Britain, Germany, France, and Belgium; and adds three main consuming southern European countries to the analysis of the international market. It provides new evidence on prices, as well as trade, and uses a straightforward approach to address coal price behaviour. Despite shocks, clear trends toward integration in both domestic and international markets can be observed, even if by one of our measures the latter started at a later date. Processes of market integration, however, seemed to slow from the end of the nineteenth century. Explanations are offered as to the causes of the extent and timing of integrations: reductions, mainly, in transportation costs, but also in information costs, and, in the international market, protectionism. The influence of cartels, on the other hand, may have been limited, particularly in the international market.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1111/ehr.12937

Año: 2020

Publicado en: ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW 73, 3 (2020), 668-702
ISSN: 0013-0117

Factor impacto JCR: 1.911 (2020)

Categ. JCR: HISTORY rank: 5 / 101 = 0.05 (2020) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: HISTORY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES rank: 4 / 34 = 0.118 (2020) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: ECONOMICS rank: 189 / 375 = 0.504 (2020) - Q3 - T2

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.014 - History (Q1) - Economics and Econometrics (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/S27
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/ECO2015-65582
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PGC2018-095529-B-I00
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PGC2018-096640-B-I00

Tipo y forma: Artículo (PostPrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Hª e Instituc.Económ. (Dpto. Estruc.Hª Econ.y Eco.Pb.)