Alexander Klein
Biographic Data
| ID | 3874351 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexander Klein |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexander |
| FAMILY NAME | Klein |
| SIGNATURE | KLEIN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Kent |
| ORCID | 0009-0006-0814-5302 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 43 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
A Long‐Run Perspective on Unconditional Convergence in Manufacturing
This paper examines long‐run unconditional convergence of labour productivity in manufacturing across 48 contiguous U.S. states. We construct a detailed panel data set of state‐industry pairs with over 120 industries covering the period 1880–2007. The remarkable finding is a rapid rate of unconditional ‐convergence: 7.6% per year in the period 1880–2007, and about 6.5% in each period 1880–1940 and 1958–2007. We also find a steep rise in unconditi…
British business cycles, 1270–1870
Annual estimates of GDP constructed from the output side are used to analyse British business cycles between 1270 and 1870. After c.1670, the scale of recessions tended to diminish as the economy grew, diversified and became more resilient. Until c.1730, business cycles were driven largely by agricultural fluctuations, but shocks to industry and commerce became more important over time as the structure of the economy changed. A number of severe r…
Between Playing Hardball and Accommodating Generously? The Terms of Enlargement for the Integration of the German Democratic Republic Into the European Community
Do norms impact state action, or are they purely instrumental and subordinate to material interests? I approach this long‐standing debate by analysing the European Union's (EU) enlargement terms. When the prospect of enlargement arises, the EU faces the dilemma of minimising resulting financial implications while fulfilling normative obligations to support new members. Historically, the EU responded both by discriminating new members from benefit…
Two States, One Voice? The Integration of the East German Länder into the European Community’s Regional Policy
Finding the needle in the haystack
This short article offers a practical introduction to archival research for political scientists working on European politics. Archival documents are increasingly recognized as a relevant data source for process tracing analyses in small-N or mixed methods studies. Previously classified archival documents are exceptionally trustworthy due to their original confidentiality. Their rich and detailed content facilitates the understanding of causal me…
Enlargement as high politics
An essential part of the restructuring of the European security order after the Cold War is the Eastern enlargement of the European Community (EC). This article provides the hitherto missing explanation for the integration of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the EC. In alignment with neoclassical realism, I claim that high politics took precedence in this exceptional enlargement. Established theories underestimate the importance of secur…
How American Is Pragmatism
This essay examines the provenance of a single, curious term that William James often used in connection with his own pragmatism. The term is Denkmittel , an uncommon German contraction of Denk (thought) and Mittel (instrument). James’s Central European sources for this now forgotten bit of philosophical jargon provide a small illustration of a bigger historical point that too often gets obscured. Pragmatism—James’s pragmatism, at least—was both …
The Determinants of International Migration in Early Modern Europe
This article offers the first multivariate regression study of international migration in early modern Europe. Using unique eighteenth-century data about maritime workers, we created a data set of migration flows among European countries to examine the role of factors related to geography, population, language, the market, and chain migration in explaining the migration of these workers across countries. We show that among all factors considered …
Agglomeration externalities and productivity growth
We investigate the role of industrial structure in labour productivity growth in manufacturing in US cities during the 'second industrial revolution'. We find that initially greater specialization was associated with faster subsequent productivity growth but that only the very high levels of diversity which obtained in some very large cities had a positive correlation. We interpret our results as demonstrating the existence of dynamic Marshallian…
William James’s Objection to Epiphenomenalism
James developed an evolutionary objection to epiphenomenalism that is still discussed today. Epiphenomenalists have offered responses that do not grasp its full depth. I thus offer a new reading and assessment of James’s objection. Our life-essential, phenomenal pleasures and pains have three features that suggest that they were shaped by selection, according to James: they are natively patterned, those patterns are systematically linked with ant…
Why did socialist economies fail? The role of factor inputs reconsidered
This article presents new estimates for investment and new growth accounts for three socialist economies between 1950 and 1989. Government statistics reported distorted measures for both the rate and the trajectory of productivity growth in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Researchers have benefited from revised output data, but have continued to use official statistics on capital input, or estimated capital stock from official investment dat…
Clark's Malthus delusion
Clark's claims about the scale of English agricultural output from the 1200s to the 1860s flout historical and geographical reality. His income‐based estimates start with the daily real wages of adult males and assume that days worked per year were constant. Those advanced in British economic growth make no such assumption and instead are built up from the output side. They correlate better with population trends and are consistent with an econom…
Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom
This article presents an analysis of occupational structure, a key component of the 'Little Divergence', in an eastern-central European economy under the second serfdom, using data on 6,983 Bohemian villages in 1654. Non-agricultural activity was lower than in western Europe, but varied positively with village size, pastoral agriculture, sub-peasant strata, Jews, freemen, female headship, and mills, and negatively with arable agriculture and town…
Hatfield on American Critical Realism
The turn of the last century saw an explosion of philosophical realisms, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Gary Hatfield helpfully asks whether we can impose order on this chaotic scene by portraying these diverse actors as responding to a common philosophical problem—the so-called problem of the external world, as articulated by William Hamilton. I argue that we should not place the American realism that grows out of James’s n…
Geography and intra-national home bias
This article examines home bias in U.S. domestic trade in 1949 and 2007. We use a unique data set of 1949 carload waybill statistics produced by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 2007 Commodity Flow Survey data. The results show that home bias was considerably smaller in 1949 than in 2007 and that home bias in 1949 was even negative for several commodities. We argue that the difference between the geographical distribution of the manufactur…
Aggregate and per capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000
This article presents estimates of aggregate and per capita GDP in constant prices for Europe over the period 1870-2000. Following the approach of Bairoch, we present figures for the continent as a whole and for individual countries on the basis of changing boundaries. This is complementary to the Maddison data-set, where country data are presented on the basis of constant boundaries. Data on the basis of the boundaries of the time are more conve…
Making sense of the manufacturing belt
This article investigates industrial location in the USA around the turn of the 20th century using a model which subsumes both market-potential and factor-endowment arguments. The results show that market potential was central to the existence of the manufacturing belt, that it mattered more than factor endowments, and that its impact came through interactions both with scale economies and with linkage effects. Market potential was generally much…
When and why did eastern European economies begin to fail? Lessons from a Czechoslovak/UK productivity comparison, 1921–1991
Did children's education matter? Family migration as a mechanism of human capital investment
This article analyses the rural–urban migration of families in the Bohemian region of Pilsen in 1900. Using a new 1,300-family dataset from the 1900 population census, the role of children's education in rural–urban migration is examined. The findings indicate that families migrated to the city such that the educational attainment of their children would be maximized, and that there is a positive correlation between family migration and children …
On Hume on Space
On Hume on Space:Green's Attack, James' Empirical Response Alexander Klein (bio) What part of our spatial perceptions comes directly from sensation, and what part is contributed by the mind itself?1 This question proved a thorn in traditional empiricism's side. The difficulty stems from two of empiricism's core commitments. First, canonical empiricists like Berkeley and Hume maintained that perceptions are composed of sensory atoms. Second, they …
Making sense of the manufacturing belt
This article investigates industrial location in the USA around the turn of the 20th century using a model which subsumes both market-potential and factor-endowment arguments. The results show that market potential was central to the existence of the manufacturing belt, that it mattered more than factor endowments, and that its impact came through interactions both with scale economies and with linkage effects. Market potential was generally much…
When and why did eastern European economies begin to fail? Lessons from a Czechoslovak/UK productivity comparison, 1921–1991
Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom
This article presents an analysis of occupational structure, a key component of the 'Little Divergence', in an eastern-central European economy under the second serfdom, using data on 6,983 Bohemian villages in 1654. Non-agricultural activity was lower than in western Europe, but varied positively with village size, pastoral agriculture, sub-peasant strata, Jews, freemen, female headship, and mills, and negatively with arable agriculture and town…
Why did socialist economies fail? The role of factor inputs reconsidered
This article presents new estimates for investment and new growth accounts for three socialist economies between 1950 and 1989. Government statistics reported distorted measures for both the rate and the trajectory of productivity growth in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Researchers have benefited from revised output data, but have continued to use official statistics on capital input, or estimated capital stock from official investment dat…
Clark's Malthus delusion
Clark's claims about the scale of English agricultural output from the 1200s to the 1860s flout historical and geographical reality. His income‐based estimates start with the daily real wages of adult males and assume that days worked per year were constant. Those advanced in British economic growth make no such assumption and instead are built up from the output side. They correlate better with population trends and are consistent with an econom…
Finding the needle in the haystack
This short article offers a practical introduction to archival research for political scientists working on European politics. Archival documents are increasingly recognized as a relevant data source for process tracing analyses in small-N or mixed methods studies. Previously classified archival documents are exceptionally trustworthy due to their original confidentiality. Their rich and detailed content facilitates the understanding of causal me…
Enlargement as high politics
An essential part of the restructuring of the European security order after the Cold War is the Eastern enlargement of the European Community (EC). This article provides the hitherto missing explanation for the integration of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the EC. In alignment with neoclassical realism, I claim that high politics took precedence in this exceptional enlargement. Established theories underestimate the importance of secur…
Agglomeration externalities and productivity growth
We investigate the role of industrial structure in labour productivity growth in manufacturing in US cities during the 'second industrial revolution'. We find that initially greater specialization was associated with faster subsequent productivity growth but that only the very high levels of diversity which obtained in some very large cities had a positive correlation. We interpret our results as demonstrating the existence of dynamic Marshallian…
Did children's education matter? Family migration as a mechanism of human capital investment
This article analyses the rural–urban migration of families in the Bohemian region of Pilsen in 1900. Using a new 1,300-family dataset from the 1900 population census, the role of children's education in rural–urban migration is examined. The findings indicate that families migrated to the city such that the educational attainment of their children would be maximized, and that there is a positive correlation between family migration and children …
Between Playing Hardball and Accommodating Generously? The Terms of Enlargement for the Integration of the German Democratic Republic Into the European Community
Do norms impact state action, or are they purely instrumental and subordinate to material interests? I approach this long‐standing debate by analysing the European Union's (EU) enlargement terms. When the prospect of enlargement arises, the EU faces the dilemma of minimising resulting financial implications while fulfilling normative obligations to support new members. Historically, the EU responded both by discriminating new members from benefit…
How American Is Pragmatism
This essay examines the provenance of a single, curious term that William James often used in connection with his own pragmatism. The term is Denkmittel , an uncommon German contraction of Denk (thought) and Mittel (instrument). James’s Central European sources for this now forgotten bit of philosophical jargon provide a small illustration of a bigger historical point that too often gets obscured. Pragmatism—James’s pragmatism, at least—was both …
The Determinants of International Migration in Early Modern Europe
This article offers the first multivariate regression study of international migration in early modern Europe. Using unique eighteenth-century data about maritime workers, we created a data set of migration flows among European countries to examine the role of factors related to geography, population, language, the market, and chain migration in explaining the migration of these workers across countries. We show that among all factors considered …
Geography and intra-national home bias
This article examines home bias in U.S. domestic trade in 1949 and 2007. We use a unique data set of 1949 carload waybill statistics produced by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 2007 Commodity Flow Survey data. The results show that home bias was considerably smaller in 1949 than in 2007 and that home bias in 1949 was even negative for several commodities. We argue that the difference between the geographical distribution of the manufactur…
On Hume on Space
On Hume on Space:Green's Attack, James' Empirical Response Alexander Klein (bio) What part of our spatial perceptions comes directly from sensation, and what part is contributed by the mind itself?1 This question proved a thorn in traditional empiricism's side. The difficulty stems from two of empiricism's core commitments. First, canonical empiricists like Berkeley and Hume maintained that perceptions are composed of sensory atoms. Second, they …
On Hume on Space
On Hume on Space:Green's Attack, James' Empirical Response Alexander Klein (bio) What part of our spatial perceptions comes directly from sensation, and what part is contributed by the mind itself?1 This question proved a thorn in traditional empiricism's side. The difficulty stems from two of empiricism's core commitments. First, canonical empiricists like Berkeley and Hume maintained that perceptions are composed of sensory atoms. Second, they …
Making sense of the manufacturing belt
This article investigates industrial location in the USA around the turn of the 20th century using a model which subsumes both market-potential and factor-endowment arguments. The results show that market potential was central to the existence of the manufacturing belt, that it mattered more than factor endowments, and that its impact came through interactions both with scale economies and with linkage effects. Market potential was generally much…
When and why did eastern European economies begin to fail? Lessons from a Czechoslovak/UK productivity comparison, 1921–1991
Did children's education matter? Family migration as a mechanism of human capital investment
This article analyses the rural–urban migration of families in the Bohemian region of Pilsen in 1900. Using a new 1,300-family dataset from the 1900 population census, the role of children's education in rural–urban migration is examined. The findings indicate that families migrated to the city such that the educational attainment of their children would be maximized, and that there is a positive correlation between family migration and children …
Aggregate and per capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000
This article presents estimates of aggregate and per capita GDP in constant prices for Europe over the period 1870-2000. Following the approach of Bairoch, we present figures for the continent as a whole and for individual countries on the basis of changing boundaries. This is complementary to the Maddison data-set, where country data are presented on the basis of constant boundaries. Data on the basis of the boundaries of the time are more conve…
Geography and intra-national home bias
This article examines home bias in U.S. domestic trade in 1949 and 2007. We use a unique data set of 1949 carload waybill statistics produced by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 2007 Commodity Flow Survey data. The results show that home bias was considerably smaller in 1949 than in 2007 and that home bias in 1949 was even negative for several commodities. We argue that the difference between the geographical distribution of the manufactur…
Hatfield on American Critical Realism
The turn of the last century saw an explosion of philosophical realisms, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Gary Hatfield helpfully asks whether we can impose order on this chaotic scene by portraying these diverse actors as responding to a common philosophical problem—the so-called problem of the external world, as articulated by William Hamilton. I argue that we should not place the American realism that grows out of James’s n…
Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom
This article presents an analysis of occupational structure, a key component of the 'Little Divergence', in an eastern-central European economy under the second serfdom, using data on 6,983 Bohemian villages in 1654. Non-agricultural activity was lower than in western Europe, but varied positively with village size, pastoral agriculture, sub-peasant strata, Jews, freemen, female headship, and mills, and negatively with arable agriculture and town…
Clark's Malthus delusion
Clark's claims about the scale of English agricultural output from the 1200s to the 1860s flout historical and geographical reality. His income‐based estimates start with the daily real wages of adult males and assume that days worked per year were constant. Those advanced in British economic growth make no such assumption and instead are built up from the output side. They correlate better with population trends and are consistent with an econom…
William James’s Objection to Epiphenomenalism
James developed an evolutionary objection to epiphenomenalism that is still discussed today. Epiphenomenalists have offered responses that do not grasp its full depth. I thus offer a new reading and assessment of James’s objection. Our life-essential, phenomenal pleasures and pains have three features that suggest that they were shaped by selection, according to James: they are natively patterned, those patterns are systematically linked with ant…
Why did socialist economies fail? The role of factor inputs reconsidered
This article presents new estimates for investment and new growth accounts for three socialist economies between 1950 and 1989. Government statistics reported distorted measures for both the rate and the trajectory of productivity growth in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. Researchers have benefited from revised output data, but have continued to use official statistics on capital input, or estimated capital stock from official investment dat…
The Determinants of International Migration in Early Modern Europe
This article offers the first multivariate regression study of international migration in early modern Europe. Using unique eighteenth-century data about maritime workers, we created a data set of migration flows among European countries to examine the role of factors related to geography, population, language, the market, and chain migration in explaining the migration of these workers across countries. We show that among all factors considered …
Agglomeration externalities and productivity growth
We investigate the role of industrial structure in labour productivity growth in manufacturing in US cities during the 'second industrial revolution'. We find that initially greater specialization was associated with faster subsequent productivity growth but that only the very high levels of diversity which obtained in some very large cities had a positive correlation. We interpret our results as demonstrating the existence of dynamic Marshallian…
How American Is Pragmatism
This essay examines the provenance of a single, curious term that William James often used in connection with his own pragmatism. The term is Denkmittel , an uncommon German contraction of Denk (thought) and Mittel (instrument). James’s Central European sources for this now forgotten bit of philosophical jargon provide a small illustration of a bigger historical point that too often gets obscured. Pragmatism—James’s pragmatism, at least—was both …
Finding the needle in the haystack
This short article offers a practical introduction to archival research for political scientists working on European politics. Archival documents are increasingly recognized as a relevant data source for process tracing analyses in small-N or mixed methods studies. Previously classified archival documents are exceptionally trustworthy due to their original confidentiality. Their rich and detailed content facilitates the understanding of causal me…
Enlargement as high politics
An essential part of the restructuring of the European security order after the Cold War is the Eastern enlargement of the European Community (EC). This article provides the hitherto missing explanation for the integration of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the EC. In alignment with neoclassical realism, I claim that high politics took precedence in this exceptional enlargement. Established theories underestimate the importance of secur…
Two States, One Voice? The Integration of the East German Länder into the European Community’s Regional Policy
A Long‐Run Perspective on Unconditional Convergence in Manufacturing
This paper examines long‐run unconditional convergence of labour productivity in manufacturing across 48 contiguous U.S. states. We construct a detailed panel data set of state‐industry pairs with over 120 industries covering the period 1880–2007. The remarkable finding is a rapid rate of unconditional ‐convergence: 7.6% per year in the period 1880–2007, and about 6.5% in each period 1880–1940 and 1958–2007. We also find a steep rise in unconditi…
British business cycles, 1270–1870
Annual estimates of GDP constructed from the output side are used to analyse British business cycles between 1270 and 1870. After c.1670, the scale of recessions tended to diminish as the economy grew, diversified and became more resilient. Until c.1730, business cycles were driven largely by agricultural fluctuations, but shocks to industry and commerce became more important over time as the structure of the economy changed. A number of severe r…
Between Playing Hardball and Accommodating Generously? The Terms of Enlargement for the Integration of the German Democratic Republic Into the European Community
Do norms impact state action, or are they purely instrumental and subordinate to material interests? I approach this long‐standing debate by analysing the European Union's (EU) enlargement terms. When the prospect of enlargement arises, the EU faces the dilemma of minimising resulting financial implications while fulfilling normative obligations to support new members. Historically, the EU responded both by discriminating new members from benefit…
Economics (12 works) · Geography (10 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Economic Growth and Productivity (6 works) · Economy (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Historical Economic and Social Studies (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works)