This dissertation is essentially three distinct writings: the first a statement of hypotheses and findings; the second a bibliography, wherein the content of each source is annotated by an original numeric code system; and the third, an index to the bibliography—the index being entirely computer-produced according to a modified Keyword-in-Context (KWIC) data processing technique.

The central problem of the thesis is the retardation of regional growth. The economy of New Brunswick has provided a case in point for over a hundred years. That is to say, real per capita income within the province has tended to lag behind that achieved in competing regions. This competition has been viewed primarily as a scramble for factors of production. The winners were those areas which attracted factors from lagging sectors whenever income differentials became significant. The losers, in turn, could find in such an exodus a major reason why retardation developed cumulative tendencies.

Any advance in our knowledge about the growth and development of the American colonial economy must first start with a balance-of-payments study. The trade of the thirteen colonies with other areas— principally Great Britain, Ireland, southern Europe, the Wine Islands, the West Indies, and Africa—certainly must have formed, together with the coastal trade between the colonies, a large share of the total market activity. My conclusions from such a study are that the description given of commodity trade by colonial historians has been accurate but that once services as well as goods are considered the picture changes to one where there are only small positive or negative balances remaining on current account for the various regions. As a result, I would conclude that long-term capital flows from Great Britain to the colonies were either small or nil during this period.

The interest of economists in the nature and causes of economic growth has focused attention on demographic phenomena. For the economic historian, this has meant a reexamination of the historically unprecedented international population movements of the nineteenth century and their relationship to the process of economic growth.

The thesis of this essay is that the industrial development of Brazil, 1920–1951, was unbalanced in demand and supply and characterized by input-provision capital formation. Part I introduces an analytical framework. Part II consists of preliminary historical evidence supporting the framework.