Historical studies show that the average height of Western European children began its secular growth in 1850 only after a period of decline and stagnation which had started around 1750. We argue that the initial downturn in heights is related to the demographic transition, and show that an extension of the neoclassical model of economic growth can explain the observed phenomena. We test whether the predictions of the model hold for a cross-section of contemporary countries, and we find that stature is indeed negatively associated with income per capita and fertility for countries with an income per capita below a given threshold. As a final exercise, we ask whether these cross-country estimates explain the improvement in children's height observed in the last hundred and fifty years.

This article has two objectives: to analyse a leading businessman, José Martínez Rivas, a distinguished leader of Biscayan industrialization, and to apply economic theory to his case for a better understanding of Spanish business history. The business life of Martinez Rivas and the evolution of his fortune has been reconstructed with archive sources. The article is divided into three parts. The first section examines the origins and first years of his main business activities. A second section describes the evolution and results in each of these. A third and final part, applies Schumpeterian entrepreneur theory to Martinez Rivas' business initiatives. The conclusions summarize the main contributions of this work and open a door to further related research and the theory applied.

This paper analyses the evolution of Savings Banks in Spain during the last decades of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. The effects of the regulation and public intervention are analysed, as well as the creation of corporative and representative organisms of Savings Banks. It also reviews the consolidation of the Savings Banks in the financial-banking system. The regional focus is applied to show the strategies used by these financial institutions, in order to understand their growth. Between 1880 and 1936 the Savings Banks played an important role in the financial domestic system, adapting their services to their clients' demands. In this way the Savings Banks confronted the private big banking sector in order to attract more clients, mainly middle and working classes in urban and rural areas. Finally Savings Banks became an important instrument of the social policy of governments, especially through the investment in public debt.

The historiography on Campomanes, in particular that referring to his writings on factory matters, has established a cliché of their anti-capitalistic or anti-industrial character. This appraisal, which can be traced back to a biased interpretation of his Discurso sobre el fomento de la industria popular, has secluded both the remaining doctrinal contributions on industry made by this author and the achievements of his proposed industrial policy. A more careful reading of his industrialist writings, adequately placed within their historical context, will no doubt contribute to discard platitudes and to rehabilitate one of the leading intellectuals of Spanish economy during the 18th century.

This article analyses the industrial activity of the French automobile company Renault during its first two decades in Spain. A first section examines the negotiations which concluded in the concession of the Spanish license and the establishment of a Spanish licensee society (FASA). A second part analyses the early years of FASA, in which it experienced a sustained growth overshadowed by product quality and management problems. We show how FASA's main phase of expansion coincided with the French head office's control, effective from 1964 on. The last part of the article summarizes some of the factors contributing to the success of Renault in Spain: such as adapting to local market conditions, establishing a certain degree of freedom in management and a more flexible export policy.

Argentinean economy historiography lacks consensus as to the periodization of its recent growth phases. A related open question is the date at which Argentinean economy ended its first major growth phase. For some economists this was a consequence of the First World War, whereas for others Argentina lost positions from the Great Depression on. The aim of this paper is to contrast these views. We apply univariate analysis and unit root contrasts to the now available Argentinean GDP per capita series. The results point at 1913 as the first important break in the trend, whereas 1929 only represents a significant change in the intercept of the series. At the same time, this analysis defines three new long-term phases in the Argentinean growth process: 1875 to 1913, 1914 to 1974, and 1975 to 2000.

Se llega a veces a concebir la ilusión de que ciertas gentes de nuestro entorno, las más allegadas, se verán libres del ineludible término natural de la vida. Tras más de treinta años de convivencia casi cotidiana con don Felipe –siempre le llamábamos así–, su persona y magisterio acabaron por formar parte de nuestro paisaje más familiar, y hoy nos es doloroso reconocer que nos engañábamos al alimentar tamaña ilusión. No así él. Don Felipe no se dejó confundir, fue muy consciente de las previsibles consecuencias de su enfermedad, y lo declaraba sin ambages y sin dejarse embaucar por cuantos porfiábamos en inducirle ánimos con disimulos piadosos. Falleció en Madrid el pasado 27 de Enero y fue enterrado el día 29 en Palacios de Campos, provincia de Valladolid, donde naciera hace 88 años.