Shameel Ahmad Brandeis University [email protected] Fall 2016 Version 160824-1
ECON 45a: European Economic History
Please note that this syllabus is provisional and subject to change with prior notice.
In this course, we will survey major developments in the economic history of Europe over the long nineteenth century. Many features of modern economic life that we take for granted today were forged in this small corner of the world over a few crucial decades: an understanding of this story is therefore fundamental for contextualizing the present.
The causes and consequences of industrialization, first in Great Britain and then its uneven spread across the European continent, will be major themes of this course. We will pay close attention to new and changing institutions in the domains of business organization, social welfare, and financial intermediation, among others, as well as to developments in technology and the nature of innovation and invention. Finally, we will discuss the demographic transition, marked by dramatic falls in mortality and fertility from pre-industrial levels, and new patterns of urbanization and migration.
Success in this four-credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (reviewing lecture notes, reading, writing, problem sets, and exam preparation).
Learning goals: 1.To gain a broad understanding of major developments in European economic history over the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries 2. To learn how to analyze historical change using simple tools from economic theory, including basic models of growth, trade, and markets in partial equilibrium. 3. To read and critically assess arguments and evidence in economic history.
Class time: This class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:20pm, in Pollack auditorium. I will post an abbreviated lecture outline the evening before class: these are not a substitute for attending class, but may help you to organize your notes.
Office hours: I will hold office hours 3:30-4:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at my office (Sachar 130-A). You do not need to make an appointment or give me an advance warning, just drop by. I strongly encourage you to come by and chat with me about the course, or about economics and history more generally: I promise my undivided attention, and that it will be fun!
Teaching assistant: Preeti Huq ([email protected] ) will hold office hours weekly at [time/location TBD] to help you with your problem-set and essay assignments for the course.
Prerequisites: Students must have taken ECON 2A or ECON 10A. We will review and build on these basic concepts in economics in order to shed light on historical development. A basic understanding of high-school mathematics is assumed; simple differential calculus will be helpful, but is not necessary.
Assignments: There will be four problem sets due over the semester, requiring you to make use of the analytical tools we learn in this course. In addition, there will be two short writing assignments, one in mid-September and one in mid-November, that will require you to read a journal article in economic history from an assigned list and provide a three-page summary of its argument. (See the Paper Assignment handout for more details.)
1 Exams: There will be one midterm (in-class), and one final exam, at the time/location scheduled by the University Registrar. (The tentative exam schedule has us booked for Monday, December 12, 6-9pm).
Due dates: All due dates are firm. Problem sets and papers should be submitted by the start of class on the day they are due, and late assignments will receive no credit. The problem sets are on the web, as is a handout describing the paper assignments. Please note that one problem set is due relatively early in the semester.
Attendance: Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class from September 6 onwards. Every student is allowed to miss three class sessions for any reason: after that, you must visit me during office hours to discuss the reason for your absence. Repeated lateness will be counted as an absence.
Weights for final grade: There are four assigned problem sets. Each counts for 5% of the overall course grade. (20%) There are two assigned papers. Each counts for 15% of the overall course grade. (30%) The midterm is worth 20 percent. The final exam counts for 30 percent. If your final exam is better than the mid-term, then the midterm will not count and the final exam will count for 50 percent of the course grade. If you miss more than the three “free” absences without coming to see me, the maximum final grade is a D.
Summary of important dates: Sep 6 Problem set 1 [growth] Sep 20 First paper due Sep 29 Problem set 2 [nominal and effective protection] Oct 6 Mid-term in class Nov 3 Problem set 3 [trade and factor flows] Nov 17 Second paper due Dec 6 Problem set 4 [technology adoption]
Disability accommodations: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me as early as possible during the semester.
Screen policy: Cellphones must be turned off/on silent during class. Laptops may be used for note- taking, although I reserve the right to change this policy if I feel that it is disrupting your attention or that of other students.
Academic dishonesty: You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity (see http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/ai). Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Department of Student Rights and Community Standards for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in this course and suspension from the University.
Course outline: All readings listed here are required and they will be available on the course website. There are no assigned books for this course; however, I encourage you to come and see me if you want recommendations for additional reading material (on specific topics covered in this course, or for supplementary readings on the social, political and intellectual history of Europe during this period). The “lecture number” will be the key for the documents on LATTE. We will aim to cover approximately one topic per course session (that is, two per week).
Lecture Title and required reading
1 (Primarily organizational) Aug 25 Broad contours of economic life in pre-industrial Europe
2 (no required reading)
2 Aug 30 The British industrial revolution and the position of the “follower” countries c. 1830
Crafts, “The Industrial Revolution”
3 Sep 1 Economic growth: models and puzzles
“The Solow model”, from Jones, Growth.
Baumol, “Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare: What the Long-Run Data Show,” AER 76(5), 1986
4 Sep 6 The “follower” countries at mid-century
(no required reading)
5 Sep 13 Iron and steel
Orsagh, “Progress in Iron and Steel: 1870-1913.” CSSH, 1961
6 Sep 15 Economic unification: Germany and Italy, 1834-1914
(no required reading)
7 Sep 20 Railroads
Schwartz, Gregory, and Thévenin, “Spatial History: Railways, Uneven Development, and Population Change in France and Great Britain, 1850- 1914” JIH 2011
8 Sep 22 Intellectual property and its protection
Machlup and Penrose, “The Patent Controversy in the Nineteenth Century.” JEH 1950
9 Sep 27 The political economy of tariffs
Webb, “Agricultural protection in Wilhelminian Germany: forging an empire with pork and rye.” JEH 1982
10 3 Sep 29 Trade and economic growth
(no additional reading)
11 Oct 6 In-class mid-term. Will be limited to material covered through Lecture 10. There will be an optional review session, we will schedule this later.
12 Oct 11 The “grain invasion” and rural depopulation
O’Rourke, “The European Grain Invasion: 1870-1913”, JEH 1997
13 Oct 13 The mortality transition
McKeown and Record, “Reasons for the decline of mortality in England and Wales during the nineteenth century.” Population Studies 1962
14 Oct 18 The fertility transition
(no additional reading)
15 Oct 20 Migration: moving around and leaving
Bade, “German Emigration to the United States and Continental Immigration to Germany in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries.” CEH 1980
16 Oct 27 Urbanization
(no required reading)
17 Nov 1 Banking and finance I
Guinnane, “Delegated Monitors”
18 Nov 3 Banking and finance II
Watson, “Banks and industrial finance”
19 Nov 8 The development of business firms I
Chandler, “Introduction: Scale and Scope” AND “Great Britain: Personal Capitalism”
20 4 Nov 10 The development of business firms II
Chandler, “The Foundations of Managerial Capitalism in Germany” AND “Creating Organizational Capabilities”
21 Nov 15 Relative British decline
Pollard, “Entrepreneurship”
22 Nov 17 The gold standard and the international monetary system
Cooper, “The Gold Standard: Historical Facts and Future Prospects,” Brookings Papers 1982. (Pages 1-19 only).
23 Nov 22 Colonies and British economic development
Davis and Huttenback, “The Political Economy of British Imperialism: Measures of Benefits and Support.” JEH 1982
24 Nov 29 The welfare state
MacKinnon, “English Poor Law Policy and the Crusade Against Outrelief,” JEH 1987
25 Dec 1 Social insurance
Guinnane, “The poor law and pensions in Ireland.” JIH 24(2), 1993.
26 Dec 6 Summing up
(no additional reading)
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