Through my research, I want to understand how societies develop in the long run and explain the striking differences we observe in their developmental path. Together with the young researchers working on my projects, I aim to find out why some societal arrangements are successful and others are not, and what drives the formation of these arrangements. Success can be measured economically, in GDP per capita or wealth, but also in ways which include the social aspects, such as equity and welfare, and the ecological ones, such as sustainable use of resources. The area I primarily use to test my ideas is pre-industrial Northwestern Europe, although I recently extended the geographical comparison to other parts of Europe and the Middle East, and have also become more interested in extending my research lines into the modern period. Methodologically, I try to develop comparative analysis – both over time and across regions – as a sharp research tool, and to link detailed, empirical research to big debates and theoretical questions. I have employed this comparative analysis in order to understand the interaction of social relations with demographic patterns, different trajectories of proto-industrialization and long-run changes in agricultural productivity. In recent years, I have become increasingly interested in the fundamental issue of the organization and functioning of land, lease and labour markets, and their divergent effects, also on equality and social and ecological sustainability. By bringing these lines together, I aim to advance much further in this search for better understanding the diverse, long run interaction between economy, society and institutions, and the regional differences in this interaction, which led to the divergencies found in the world today.

Origins and Impacts of Institutions