El Model històric de creixement a les Illes Balears : un intent de teorització

Resum

The economic history of the Balearic Islands from 1700 to 1960 is the subject of this award winning research. Maritime commerce exporting olive oil and after 1830 wine, spirits, citrus fruits and almonds financed imports. There is a correlation between areas of emigration and export. Economic growth was based on an extensive cottage industry. A family based entrepreneurial system with members spread in the different export centres was developed which proved very important in the later development of a tourist industry. Capital was low but social stability kept wages low too. The islands were open societies with considerable dynamism troughout the period. The rise of the merchants substituted the island aristocracy and industrial export of textiles and shoes grew after 1885. World War I and the Civil War were growth periods for the islands which were kept out of both. In 1959 the islands were at 76% of European GNP which explains their ability to grow fast with liberalisation. The islands are a complex, open and dynamic society adapting to the many external changes in the world economy, the latest being tourism which is now dominant.