Course Details

Economic history is important for understanding long-run economic development and to study the question, why some countries became rich, while others remained poor. In this course, we focus on selected topics of quantitative economic history that have been explored by economists and economic historians in recent years. Topics include trade, the role of institutions in economic development, religion, human capital, innovation, market integration, financial development, inequality, migration, epidemics, and climate change. The weekly lecture (2 hours) will give you an overview on recent empirical research on each topic. In the weekly exercise sessions (2 hours), we will then discuss key research papers in more depth. Each student is required to presents a critical discussion of one research paper. The presentation accounts for 20% of the final grade, and the participation in class discussions accounts for 10% of the final grade.