INTRODUCCIÓN: INLAND PORTS IN THE ANGLO-IBERIAN ATLANTIC: NEW APPROACHES FROM ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Abstract

Inland waterways had an expansive role in the economic performance of preindustrialand early industrial societies. The lower freight rates and lower biomass consumptioncharacteristic of riverine trade allowed merchants to export bulky, low-value-to-weightcommodities to distant nodes and successfully compete in global, competitive markets.As a growing literature has shown, economies endowed with an extensive network of inlandwaterways were better positioned to benefit from regional specialization andSmithian growth.1 The increasing integration of markets in China, Europe, and other regionsbefore the twentieth century was driven, among other things, by fundamental organizationaland technological changes in river navigation, such as improvements in portfacilities, canalization, customs simplification, and elimination of barriers to entry.2 Theadvent of steam navigation strengthened the productivity gains in river trade, makingupriver navigation cost-effective and further connecting inland nodes to the expansivewaves of global trade.3