A FRESH meeting was organized in Esbjerg October 1-2 to bring together researchers in Ancient History and Economic History to share research and exchange interdisciplinary ideas. The economists and ancient historians who took part in the workshop are explicitly interested in collaborating across disciplines. Their papers covered a wide spectrum of topics and approaches and […]
Effects of Agricultural Productivity Shocks on Female Labor Supply: Evidence from the Boll Weevil Plague in the US South
New EHES working paper Manifested in historical accounts, songs, and family tales, the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), an approximately one-fourth inch long beetle with a very long snout, is considered as the most well-known agricultural pest in the American South. Anthonomus grandis Arriving near Brownsville, Texas, from Mexico in 1892, the boll weevil started to […]
Accounting for the Size of Nations: Empirical Determinants of Secessions and the Soviet Breakup
New EHES working paper The year 2014 has marked the return of secessions as a challenge to existing European states. A referendum on Scottish independence was held in September, and the regional government of Catalonia may follow suit in November. Meanwhile, Ukraine faced secessionist referenda and uprisings in a number of its regions. But why […]
How the Danes Discovered Britain: The International Integration of the Danish Dairy Industry Before 1880
New EHES working paper On the 150th anniversary of the loss of the Danish Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia, a new EHES working paper, by Markus Lampe at Universidad Carlos III Madrid and Paul Sharp at the Historical Economics and Development Group of the University of Southern Denmark, asks whether it really was the turning point in Danish […]
New crops, local soils and urbanization: Clover, potatoes and the growth of Danish market towns, 1672-1901
How did local soil conditions affect local development historically? Evidence on this question is provided in a new EHES working paper by Torben Dall Schmidt, Peter Sandholt Jensen and Amber Naz from the University of Southern Denmark. They investigate how the introduction of clover and potatoes affected market town development. Their strategy is to apply […]
Lifespan from the Dark Ages to the Industrial Revolution
New EHES working paper The family trees of European nobility provide a rich resource for the understanding of our Neil Cummins is Assistant Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics demographic past. Over the past year, I have consolidated about 1.3 million aristocratic records that have been deposited online by the church of Jesus Christ […]
Paving the way to modernity: Prussian roads and grain market integration in Westphalia, 1821-1855
New EHES working paper Europe in the early nineteenth century has seen enormous changes: Borders were redrawn at the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815, economic liberalism took hold in Britain and the continent alike, urbanisation grew and industrialisation began to change the standard of living and the environment, to speak of just a […]
International conference on economic and business history of Latin America
Call for papers As part of the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Chile, the Faculty is hosting an International Conference on the Economic and Business History of Latin America to be held on December 12th, 2014 in its premises in Santiago, Chile. The conference invites contributions in […]
Report from the Economic History Society in Columbus, Ohio, September 12-14, 2014.
This year’s Economic History Association meeting took place in Columbus, Ohio. It followed the usual format of short presentations, and designated discussants on each paper, as well as poster displays from graduate students. There were many excellent presentations, including some from European scholars or on European topics. Of particular interest to EHES members might be […]
Catching up or falling behind? Institutions, Geography and Economic Development of Eastern Europe in the Long Run
We look back on a summer school, hosted by the EHES, Humboldt-Universität and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Centered on the theme “Catching up or falling behind? Institutions, Geography and Economic Development of Eastern Europe in the Long Run”, the Summer School brought together experienced and young researchers working on Eastern European […]