1 When Did Modern Economic Growth Really Start?1 The Empirics of Malthus to Solow

This chapter argues that, in spite of slow economic growth, the Industrial Revolution was a period in which there was a discontinuity in the driving forces of modern economic growth. Nevertheless, empirical evidence indicates that temporary growth spurts occurred in several pre-industrial economies. Micro and macro data also suggest that there was another discontinuity in the driving forces of the demographic transition and modern economic growth, involving a change in fertility decisions. Cross-country regressions indicate that improvements in human capital were fundamental for the emergence of modern economic growth. JEL Classification: N10, O11, O1