Nueva luz sobre viejos problemas: incidencia de la cuantificación en la historiografía sobre la industria temprana en Uruguay

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the impact of quantitative research on the historiography of early industry in Uruguay. We distinguish two phases that are connected by a transitional period. We maintain that the diffusion of quantitative methods among economic historians, and in particular their estimates of gdp, made for a change in the way they approached industry before 1930. Although the traditional problems remain –like the role of protectionism– the kind of evidence used to support the arguments changed. Also, the key role off protectionism in the explanation of industrial growth has been challenged. The new evidence suggests that the factors behind early industrial growth were protectionist laws and the effects of international crises. Quantitative historiography maintains that this is not accounted for in estimations of product, and stresses the importance of the economy as a whole and the linkages between the export and domestic sectors.