The rise of industrial Belgium

Which factors were decisive for the breakthrough of industry in the 19th century? Franz Xaver Zobl investigated industrial development in France and Belgium in search of these determining factors. As part of his PhD at the London School of Economics (LSE), he studied the importance of access to coal and markets to explain regional patterns of Belgian industrialization. His analysis shows that both access to coal and markets played a crucial role. In general, more attention must be paid to supply and demand to explain industrialization processes. Zobl based his statistical analysis on the extensive industry census of 1896 made available by Lokstat.  Recently, the doctoral dissertation from 2018 has become freely available to interested readers in full and without restrictions (see below).

PhD thesis:

Zobl Franz Xaver. Regional Economic Development under Trade: Liberalisation, Technological Change and Market Access: Evidence from 19th century France and Belgium. PhD thesis, London School of Economics (LSE), 2018.