Proto-industrialization

Proto-industrialization is the regional development, alongside commercial agriculture, of rural handicraft production for external markets. Cottage industries in parts of Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries had long been a niche topic of study. In the early 1970s, some economic historians introduced the label "proto-industrialization", arguing that these developments were the main cause of the economic and demographic growth and social change that occurred in Europe over this period, and of the Industrial Revolution that followed. Several theories were proposed to explain the mechanisms of this proposed causation. Proto-industrialization theories have been challenged by other historians. They stress the importance of other factors that are downplayed in proto-industrialization theories. Empirical studies have demonstrated a variety of economic and demographic responses to proto-industrialization. In several cases it led to de-industrialization. Later researchers suggested that similar conditions had arisen in other parts of the world, including Mughal India and Song China. A proto-industrial and even partially industrial economy has moreover been suggested for the Roman Empire between the 1st and 4th centuries AD.