ECON 213
U.S. Economic Development in Historical Perspective
Spring 2016
Sacramento State
Instructor: Ta-Chen Wang
Class Time: Wednesdays, 5:30 -8:20 PM
Contact Information:
Tahoe 3019
tachen.wang@csus.edu
(916) 278-7112
Office Hours:
Tuesdays 1:30-3:00
Wednesdays 3:30-5:00 or by appointment
Prerequisites
Admission to MA program in Economics
Catalog Description
Introduction and analysis American economic development from a historical perspective,
focusing on the trajectory of American economic development from recent advances in
theoretical and empirical literature. Covers topics on long-term economic growth,
technological advances, business cycles and fluctuations, financial market, labor market,
and economic impacts of social change. Prerequisite: Admission to MA program in
Economic. Units: 3.0.
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Learning Objectives
This is a graduate level course on American economic history. The course takes a
context-specific approach to economic applications. The course begins with a brief
overview and introduction to American history from an economics perspective. Then we
explore topics that played major roles in shaping the historical path of American economy.
Drawing from latest research in both empirical and theoretical economics literature, this
course will equip students with an understanding of American economic development
through rigorous economic analysis.
More specifically, by completing this course, students are expected to:
1. Achieve fundamental understanding of the history of American economic
development and the impact of historical events on the American economy
2. Apply economic theory and quantitative skills to analyze the historical event from an
economic perspective.
3. Develop skills to synthesize and critically evaluate economic analyses using empirical
evidence in a historical context.
Required Readings
The required course material contains a series of journal articles, available on SacCT. You
will need a SacLink ID to access the course website. Please see below for the tentative
reading list. I may also change the reading list if appropriate journal articles appear
during the semester.
If you would like to have a textbook as a reference, a good textbook at this level is:
Atack, Jeremy and Peter Passell. A New Economic View of American History. Second
Edition W. W. Norton and Company 1994.
Note that the textbook is not required.
I will also post the outline of the class material on SacCT.
Evaluation and Grading System
Students are evaluated based on two exams, one data analysis project, one term paper and
one in-class presentation. The following provides a brief description to each item.
Exams
There will be one midterm and a final. The exams will contain essay questions. Each
question will be on a broad topic and students are expected to organize and synthesize
the information from class, rather than just repeat the lectures.
Tentative midterm date: 3/16
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Data Project
The data project will ask you to analyze a dataset, which will be available on SacCT.
You will be asked to summarize the data, observe the pattern and use regression
techniques to perform the analysis. In addition, you also have to link your
observations to historical events. You are welcome to use any statistical package to
analyze the data, but I will be able to help you if you use STATA.
In-Class Presentation:
Students will choose two papers among the articles with an asterisk (*) from the
reading list below and present these papers in class. These articles are usually
interesting and relatively recent. Before the presentation, I will introduce the general
topic to provide background information. The presentation will last for about 30 to 45
minutes, and each presentation should cover at least the following elements:
1. The historical background of the topic
2. Literature review
3. The issue and the theoretical prediction
4. Description of data
5. Empirical strategy
6. Result of the empirical analysis
7. Critiques and suggestions for further research
Students are also expected to participate in the discussion after each presentation. You
will need to send me the PowerPoint presentation and meet with me a week prior to
your presentation so we can go over the details.
Term Paper
The term paper asks students to write a review article on a topic in American
economic history. The paper may be based on the topic the student presented in class.
However, students are also encouraged to search for a topic of their choice and review
the relevant literature. Students will be required to submit the topic of their choice no
later than week 10. The article has to synthesize at least 5 original research articles
and should be 7-10 pages long.
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Grading Schedule :
Two Exams
One data project
In-class presentation
Term paper
25% each
10%
20%
20%
Grading Scale:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
F
93-100%
88-92.99%
85-87.99%
82-84.99%
77-81.99%
75-76.99%
72-74.99%
70-71.99
60-69.99%
Below 60
Course Policies
1. Academic honesty is expected. You will receive a mark of zero on any work (including
exams) where cheating occurs. Please make sure you read the University Policy on
Academic Honesty: http://www.csus.edu/admbus/umanual/UMA00150.htm There is also
a useful student tutorial on this issue: http://library.csus.edu/content2.asp?pageID=353
2. There will be no make-ups on any of the graded assignments or exams unless you have a
valid written excuse (such as medical emergency). Missed assignments and exams will
count as zero towards your final grade.
3. Attendance is highly recommended. If you miss a class, be sure to check with your fellow
classmates, and the course web page to see what material you missed.
4. I will do my best to respect everyone, and I hope you do the same to your fellow
colleagues, especially since everyone will present in this class. Please minimize
disturbances (such as cell phone ringers.)
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5. If you have a disability and require accommodations, you need to provide disability
documentation to SSWD, Lassen Hall 1008, (916) 278-6955. Please discuss your
accommodation needs with me after class or during my office hours early in the semester.
Weekly Course Outline and Tentative Reading List
Week 1-Week 4:
Economics Review and An Overview of American Economic History (4 lectures)
Week 1: Economics Review
Lecture notes on producer theory, profit maximization, and factor markets.
Week 2: Colonial and Antebellum America
Nettels, C. P. (1952) British Mercantilism and the Economic Development of the
Thirteen Colonies. Journal of Economic History 12, 105-14
Wright, G. (2003) Slavery and American Agricultural History. Agricultural History 77,
527-552.
Week 3: Post-bellum: Northern Industrialization and Southern Reconstruction
Rosenberg, Nathan. (1981) Why in America? in Exploring the Black Box, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Week 4: Introduction to 20th Century
Wright, Gavin. (1987) The Economic Revolution in the American South. Journal of
Economic Perspectives 1, 161-178.
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Week 5: Financial Markets and Early American Development
Lamoreaux, Naomi R. (1986). Banks, Kinship, and Economic Development: The New
England Case. Journal of Economic History 46, 647-67.
*Bodenhorn, Howard (2007). Usury Ceilings and Bank Lending Behavior: Evidence from
Nineteenth Century New York. Explorations in Economic History 44, 179-202.
Rockoff, Hugh. (2003) Prodigals and Projectors: An Economic History of Usury Laws in
the United States from Colonial Times to 1900. NBER Working Paper.
*Mitchener, K. J. and Wheelock, D. (2010) Does the Structure of Banking Matter for
Economic Growth? Evidence from U.S. State Banking Markets. NBER Working Paper
[optional] Sylla, Richard (2006). The Transition to a Monetary Union in the United States,
1787–1795. Financial History Review 13, 73–95.
Week 6: US Agriculture
David, Paul A. The Mechanization of Reaping in the Ante-Bellum Midwest, In Fogel and
Engerman. The Reinterpretation of American Economic History. Harper and Row, 1971
Olmstead, A. L. and Rhode, P. The Red Queen and the Hard Reds: Productivity Growth in
American Wheat, 1800-1940. Journal of Economic History 62, 929-66
*Davis, J. H., Hanes, C, and Rhode, P.W. (2009) Harvests and Business Cycles in
Nineteenth Century America. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1675-1727.
*Hansen, Z. K. and Libecap, G. (2004). Small Farms, Externalities, and the Dust Bowl of
the 1930s. Journal of Political Economy 112, 665-694.
Week 7: Slavery and the South
Conrad, A. H. and Meyer J. R. (1958) The Economics of Slavery in the Ante Bellum
South. The Journal of Political Economy 66, 95-130.
Ransom, R. and Sutch, R. (1988) Capitalists Without Capital: The Burden of Slavery and
the Impact of Emancipation. Agricultural History 62, 133-149.
*Olmstead, A. L. and Rhode, P. (2009) Slave Productivity in Cotton Production by
Gender, Age, Season, and Scale. Working Paper
*Naidu, S. (2010) Recruitment Restrictions and Labor Markets: Evidence from the
Postbellum U.S. South. Journal of Labor Economics 28,
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Week 8: Technology, Innovation, and Productivity
Khan, Z., and Sokoloff, K. (2001). The Early Development of Intellectual Property
Institutions in the United States. Journal of Economic Perspectives 15, 233-246.
*Moser, P. (2005). How do Patent Laws Influence Innovation? American Economic
Review 95, 1215-1236.
David, P. A. (1990) The Dynamo and the Computer: An Historical Perspective on the
Modern Productivity Paradox. American Economic Review 80, 355-361
Week 9: Education and Human Capital
Goldin, C. (2001). The Human Capital Century and American Leadership. Journal of
Economic History 61, 263-292.
*Lindert, P. and Go, S. (2010) “The Uneven Rise of American Public Schools to 1850”.
Journal of Economic History 70, 1-26.
*Goldin, C., and Katz, L.F. (2000). Education and Income in the Early Twentieth Century:
Evidence from the Prairies. Journal of Economic History 60, 782-818.
*Parman, J. (2012). Good Schools Make Good Neighbors: Human Capital Spillovers in
Early 20th Century Agriculture. Explorations in Economic History 49, 316-334.
Week 10 & 11: The Great Depression
Bernanke, B. S. (1983). Nonmonetary Effects of the Financial Crisis in the Propagation of
the Great Depression. American Economic Review 73, 257–276.
*Richardson, G. (2007). Categories and Causes of Bank Distress during the Great
Depression, 1929-1933: The Illiquidity versus Insolvency Debate Revisited. Explorations
in Economic History 44, 588-607.
Eichengreen, B. (2007). Did International Economic Forces Cause the Great Depression?
Contemporary Economic Policy 6, 90-114.
*Rose, J. (2011) The Incredible HOLC? Mortgage Relief During the Great Depression.
Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 43, 1073-1107.
*Cole, H. and Ohanian, L. (1999). The Great Depression in the United States: From A
Neoclassical Perspective. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review 23,
2-24.
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Week 12: 20th Century Labor Market Development and Discrimination
*Foote, C. L., Whatley W., and Wright, G. (2003). Arbitraging a Discriminatory Labor
Market: Black Workers and the Ford Motor Company, 1918-1947. Journal of Labor
Economics 21, 493-531.
*Boustan, L. P. (2010) Was Postwar Suburbanization 'White Flight'? Evidence from the
Black Migration. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 417-443.
Prescott, E. (2004). Why Do Americans Work so Much More than Europeans? Federal
Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review 28, 2-13.
*Hornbeck, R. and Naidu, S. (2014) When the Levee Breaks: Black Migration and the
Economic Development in the American South. American Economic Review 104(3), 963990.
Week 13: Changes in Women’s Status
Wright, G. (1991). Understanding the Gender Gap: A Review Article. Journal of
Economic Literature 29, 1153-1163.
Costa, D. (2000). From Mill Towns to Board Rooms: The Rise of Women’s Paid Labor.
Journal of Economic Perspectives 14, 101-122.
*Bailey, M. (2006). More Power to the Pill: The Impact of Contraceptive Freedom on
Women's Life Cycle Labor Supply. Quarterly Journal of Economics 121, 289-320.
Week 14: Natural Resources, American Economy, and California
Sachs, J. D., and Warner, A.M. (2001). The Curse of Natural Resources. European
Economic Review 45, 827–38.
Wright, G., and Czelusta, J. (2004). The Myth of the Resource Curse. Challenge, 6-36.
*Libecap, G. (2009) Chinatown Revisited: Owens Valley and Los Angeles—Bargaining
Costs and Fairness Perceptions of the First Major Water Rights Exchange. Journal of Law,
Economics and Organization 25, 311-338.
*Allen, Robert C. (2014) American Exceptionalism as a Problem in Global History.
Journal of Economic History 74, 309-350.
Week 15: Economic Inequality in 20th Century America
*Goldin, C. and Katz, L. F. (1998) The Origins of Technology-Skill Complementarity.
Quarterly Journal of Economics 113, 693-732.
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