THE EMPIRICS OF GROWTH

This study explores the long-run dynamics of economic growth, with par ticular reference to The Netherlands. The time span covered extends ba ckwards to the mid-nineteenth century, using new time series on disagg regated physical and human capital stocks for the period 1850-1913. Ec onomic growth in the nineteenth century is shown to have had a strong physical capital-using bias, initially concentrated in buildings and i nfrastructure. The close relationship between investment in machinery and economic growth did not begin to take shape until the end of the n ineteenth century, to increase in strength in the course of the twenti eth century.