Whatever happened to France? Re-examining the little divergence with England, 1300-1900

What makes a country an economic leader? Most economic models seek to optimise policy for a given institutional framework. The beauty of economic history is that is provides an alternative lens, one which helps us understand how the institutions can be changed.

Described as "the most important break in global economic history", the Great Divergence provides the perfect working ground for exploring the link between institutions, modern economic growth and relative economic performance. The great divergence focuses on the gap between Europe and Asia during the late 18th century. Recently, further research has explored the little divergences within Europe.

I am particularly intrigued by the little divergence between Britain and France. Given their shared economic advancements, I would like to know what institutional changes led to their different economic paths. The data on French Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is limited, and that on explanatory variables is equally scarce.

In my DPhil, I would like to contribute to bridging both gaps. A collection of French agricultural output series which have not been fully exploited presents an opportunity to establish greater certainty in the timing of the little divergence. I would like to use these to reconcile the results of four contradicting GDP series for France for the period 1300-1900.

Moreover, the combination of a more robust output series and novel methodological approaches surrounding market accessibility could shed light on the process by which the divergence occurred. The wider significance of this research would be to examine which changes to institutions can redefine the balance of power; a question relevant to our incomplete understanding of the industrialisation of Europe and to the continued strategic goals of governments around the world.

Södergren is planning to conduct overseas work in France as part of her doctoral research. She intends to access maps and tithe records of French cities and will need to visit the national archives in France to gather data for her research. This indicates a significant component of her research will involve direct engagement with primary sources located in France. She has fluency in French so does not need language training.