Economic Integration in Theory and Practice

Abstract

Before looking at our detailed study of economic integration in the European economy prior to 1914, we need to engage in a methodological discussion. We are not approaching the topic of integration in exactly the way others would, and so in this chapter we have set ourselves the task of explaining just where our work fits into the literature on integration. In order to be entirely clear on the many questions that arise, we feel that a straightforward way to proceed is to review the various definitions, including ours, in Section 1.2; to look at the general implementation of these notions in the relevant literature (again, in Section 1.2); and then to point out in Section 1.3 exactly what we propose to add to the literature. Section 1.4 provides a summary and some important qualifications.