The Economic History group is composed of a researchers who focus on Uruguay's economic performance in the long run and from a comparative perspective, with an interest in specific periods and facts, and with the objective of identifying the determinants of the material progress of the society.
Lines of research:
Banking sector, credit and money
Growth, distribution and foreign trade during the First Globalization
Historical National Accounts
Regional economic performance and economic geography
Inequality in Uruguay in the long-run
Standard of living in historical perspective
Natural resources, sustainability and development in the long run
International migration: trajectories, dynamics and determinants
The debate on the relationship between natural resources abundance and economic growth is still open. Our contribution to this field combines a long-run perspective (1870–2014) with the study of a peripheral country in the world economy (Uruguay).
This book brings together analysis on the conditions of agricultural sectors in countries and regions of the world’s peripheries, from a wide variety of international contributors.
The long-term relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy use and economic activity level is estimated for Uruguay between 1882 and 2010.
La “base de datos sobre la banca en Uruguay, 1929-1966” recoge la información disponible sobre las instituciones bancarias en funcionamiento y sobre los principales rubros del balance del sector para el período comprendido entre 1929 y 1966.
This document analyzes the institutional context of the Controller of Changes towards the beginning of the 1940, when it was consolidated, with the creation of the Controller of Exports and Imports (January, 1941).
Railways were an important factor in the expansion of Latin American economies in the late-nineteenth century. Due to their potential impact, governments often promoted railway construction through subsidies. The Uruguayan state offered profit guarantees to foreign railway companies and was able to attract massive investment in the railway sector. This paper asks the question of whether these railway guarantees were efficient, and estimates subsidized and unsubsidized private returns, as well as the social returns, of the Uruguayan railway network from 1869 to 1913
This paper aims at explaining the long-run inflation of Uruguay (1870-2010). A monetary inflation model is used based on the assumption that the long-run inflation results from the equilibrium conditions in the money market.
Settler economies are characterised by abundant natural resources, but these are not homogeneous between countries. There is very little literature about the economic development of settler economies that identifies differences within the club in terms of natural resources. We look for differences in energy endowments in New Zealand and Uruguay considering coal and suitable conditions for hydroelectric generation.
The main objective of this paper is to estimate Uruguayan agricultural gross value added (VAB by its Spanish abbreviation) by region in the long run. Estimates of the agricultural VAB by Department (19 administrative units) are presented, covering a century of Uruguayan history, and the main stylized facts that account for the territorial location of agricultural and livestock production in the long run are described.
The aim of this paper is to identify different distributive patterns in the settler economies (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and Uruguay) during the First Globalization (1870-1913). I present the methodology, discuss the results and make conjectures about the long-run inequality.
In order to understand Uruguay’s long-run economic evolution it becomes crucial to interpret its export performance during the First Globalization. The lack of accuracy of official figures, especially official prices used, calls for anadjustment of Uruguayan export series.
This paper analyses banking regulation in Uruguay during the period of state-led industrialization. The major legislative actions taken in regard to the private banking sector during the period are identified and the motives for these actions are examined.
The aim of this article is to estimate one of the institutional quality indicators proposed by the literature, the "contract-intensive money” (CIM), for Uruguay during the First Globalization (1870-1913).
This article brings a new historical series of gross fixed investment, at current and constant prices, for the period 1870-1955 which are consistent with the information available from national accounts (from 1955 onwards). In addition, new long-term series of gross capital stock, inventory investment, and capital prices are also provided.
Natural Resources and Economic Growth contains theoretical and empirical articles by leading scholars who have studied this subject in different historical periods from the 19th century to the present day and in different parts of the world. Part I presents the theoretical issues and discusses the meaning of the "curse" and the relevance of the historical perspective. Part II captures the diversity of experiences, presenting thirteen independent case studies based on historical results from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe.
The study of the rise and fall of mineral coal as an energy source can shed light on the characteristics of energy transition in Uruguay. This article presents historical series of coal consumption for Uruguay since the last decades of the 19th century until nowadays (1879-2011).
Recent publications in the area 
