Autumn 2022
Economics 5130: World Economic Development in Historical Perspective
Syllabus
Meeting Place: Knowlton Hall 250
Meeting Time: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 8:00am–8:55am
Instructor: Dr. Ethan Doetsch
E-mail: doetsch.2@osu.edu
Office: Arps Hall 367
Office Hours: Monday, 10:30am–12:00pm; Tuesday, 12:30pm–2:00pm; or by appointment
Important Dates
• Sept 23, 8:00am: Midterm 1
• Oct 12, 11:59pm: Term paper proposal due (upload to Carmen)
• Oct 28, 8:00am: Midterm 2
• Nov 13, 11:59pm: Term paper rough draft due (upload to Carmen for peer review)
• Nov 20, 11:59pm: Peer review reports due (on Carmen)
• Dec 4, 11:59pm: Final term paper due (upload to Carmen)
• Dec 13, 8:00am: Midterm 3
Epigraph
“...there is the common tendency to come to economics from an outside specailisation, there being
two main streams, the first from maths and physics, the second from history, together with the other
social sciences and humanities... Maths, without understanding of the institutional/social/political
background, will just lead to empty formalism. Historical and institutional knowledge, without a
hard theoretical core, will be wordy, vague, and often wrong.” — Charles A. E. Goodhart
Course Overview
This class surveys the economic development of Europe from pre-industrialization to current globalization. The emphasis is on a critical analysis of long-run factors in economic growth, property
rights, the role of the state, labor institutions, the Industrial Revolution, and living standards.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, each student will:
• become familiar with historical economic trends
• become familiar with the economic explanations for various outcomes
• become familiar with some of the debates in economic history and economics
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• become conversant with the economic history literature
• learn how to apply the lessons of economic history to contemporary issues
• develop critical thinking and analysis abilities by application to the economic history literature
Course Prerequisites
The course has the following prerequisites: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (Econ 4001), Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (Econ 4002), and Econometrics (Econ 4400, Econ 5410, or Stat
2450). If you have not taken these courses, please see me immediately.
Course Book & Materials
There is no book required for this course. Course readings are available on Carmen. You will need
a PDF viewer, such as Adobe Reader (available online for free).
Course Structure
This is an in-person course. You are expected to show up in person to receive the lecture material.
Lectures are NOT recorded for later viewing. If you miss a lecture, it is your responsibility
to get notes from a classmate and catch up with the material.
All of the lecture slide decks will be available on Carmen.
Course Grading
You will take three exams and write one term paper during the semester. Your term paper will
go through a proposal, rough draft, peer review process. The final breakdown of your grade is as
follows:
Midterm 1
100 points
Midterm 2
100 points
Midterm 3
100 points
Substantial proposal
50 points
Substantial rough draft
25 points
Substantial peer reviews 25 points
Term paper
100 points
Total
500 points
Letter grades are assigned according to the standard OSU rubric. Your final grade is the ratio of
points you obtain to the total possible, rounded down to the nearest hundredth. For example, a
final score ratio of 0.9299 is an A-. Similarly, a ratio of 0.8999 is a B+.
In order to treat all students equally, there are no grading exceptions in the assignment of final grades. I will always round final grades down. I will not increase any student’s final grade for
any reason.
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Exams
Exams may contain a varying mix of short answer questions (requiring a few complete sentences),
fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, matching, true/false questions, and diagram problems. You may
do a simple calculation or two (without a calculator). The best thing you can do to ensure you do
well in this course is to attend the lectures. The exams are based off of the material covered in
the lectures.
You may bring ONE (1) paper sheet of SELF-PRODUCED, HANDWRITTEN notes to the exam
no larger than STANDARD LETTER SIZE (8.5”×11”). “Self-produced, handwritten” means
written with a PHYSICAL PEN OR PENCIL in YOUR OWN HAND. You may write on both
the front and back. Notes produced electronically (e.g., on an iPad or laptop) and printed out are
unacceptable. Photocopies of others’ notes are unacceptable.
It is strongly suggested that you bring an acceptable scientific calculator to the exam. Acceptable scientific calculators lack all of the following capabilities: graphing, algebra solvers, network
connectivity, Internet, and programming. For example, TI-8X and similar calculators are unacceptable. Your cell phone calculator is unacceptable. Sharing a calculator with others during an
exam is academic misconduct.
Acceptable scientific calculators are easily purchased for under $15 from most major retailers.
It is your responsibility to bring an acceptable calculator to the exam!
Midterm 3 will be held during our University-scheduled final exam period. You may not take
this exam at a different date.
Proposal, rough draft, & term paper
You will produce a 6-8 page term paper (about 1,800-2,400 words of main text) for this course.
Your term paper will use economic theory to build a hypothesis, review the relevant economic
history literature, and make a firm conclusion about that hypothesis.
You must turn in a substantial proposal discussing your hypothesis and the results of your initial
literature review. The purpose of the proposal is to provide feedback at the start of your process.
If you do not provide a substantial proposal, I cannot provide you with quality feedback. Hence,
insubstantial proposals will lose points. You must turn in a rough draft of your paper. More
information about these assignments and their requirements is forthcoming.
Your term paper must include some form of quantitative evidence, in a self-produced format.
Note: You’re likely not going to be gathering your own data.
The OSU library’s guide to research in economics is at the following website: http://guides.
osu.edu/economics
The OSU Writing Center offers consultations for any stage of the writing process, from idea
formation to final editing. You may view and schedule their services from the following website:
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https://cstw.osu.edu/make-writing-center-appointment
You will upload an electronic copy of your proposal, rough draft, and term paper in an acceptable
format (pdf, doc, docx, txt) to Carmen by the respective due date. All submissions will be checked
for plagiarism with www.turnitin.com. Please familiarize yourself with the rules and mores regarding plagiarism at Ohio State.
Your rough draft should show substantial progress toward the completion of your paper. If you
submit an insubstantial rough draft, you cannot receive feedback in the peer review process (which
is the very purpose of the rough draft). Hence, insubstantial rough draft submissions will lose a
significant number of points.
I will not accept late papers or proposals without prior arrangements under the most rare, dire,
and unavoidable of circumstances. Because late rough drafts create significant negative externalities in the peer-review process, they are not accepted under any circumstances.
Peer Reviews
After you turn in your rough draft, you will complete three peer reviews of other students’ rough
drafts, providing detailed, high-quality, constructive feedback. A peer review form will be provided. More information about this assignment is forthcoming.
You must submit a rough draft to receive access and complete your peer reviews. If you don’t
submit a rough draft, you cannot complete the peer review assignment and will receive a zero.
Your peer review feedback should be substantial. You must provide give quality, usable feedback to your peers. Insubstantial peer review feedback will lose a significant number of points.
Mere comments like “nice job!” or “good work!” are unhelpful and, thus, insubstantial.
Please see the “Important Dates” section above for the due dates.
Extra Credit
Throughout the semester, I may take attendance for extra credit on low attendance days. If your
name is not on the roll for that day, you receive no credit (no exceptions). Signing the roll for
somebody other than yourself constitutes academic misconduct.
Makeup Exams
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should call 911.
Makeup exams are only offered for valid, documented reasons (e.g. authorized Ohio State team
travel, medical emergency, or attending the funeral of a family member).
The following is a non-exhaustive list of invalid reasons for a makeup exam: oversleeping, attending a wedding, a doctor appointment, vacation travel, a scheduled surgery, the death of a
beloved pet, a club team competition, an interview for your dream job, student group travel, tour4
ing a graduate school program, etc.
You must email me to request a makeup exam before the missed exam. If you fail to provide
satisfactory documentation within one week after the missed exam, you will receive a score of zero
for your missed exam. You may take only one makeup exam during the semester.
You may NOT use your notes during a makeup exam.
You may take only one makeup exam during the semester. If you miss more than one exam,
you have missed too much of the course to be successful and should consider dropping or withdrawing.
Health and Safety Requirements
All students, faculty and staff are required to comply with and stay up to date on all university
safety and health guidance (https://safeandhealthy.osu.edu), which includes wearing a face
mask in any indoor space and maintaining a safe physical distance at all times. Non-compliance
will result in a warning first, and disciplinary actions will be taken for repeated offenses.
Economics Learning Center
The Department of Economics runs the Economics Learning Center, where advanced undergraduates provide free tutoring for students in Economics 2001, 2002, 4001, and 4002. Assistance with
other classes is frequently available. The Economics Learning Center is located in 385 Arps Hall
(1945 North High Street) and is typically open from 9:00 am–5:00 pm Monday–Friday starting the
second (full) week of the semester. Note that the purpose of the tutoring center is not to provide
answers to assignments, but to help students learn economics. As the student, you are ultimately
responsible for all course work you submit.
Additional information can be found at: https://economics.osu.edu/economics-learning-center
Academic Misconduct
It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term
“academic misconduct” includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed;
illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with
examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct:
http://studentlife.osu.edu/csc/
Faculty rules require me to report any instance of academic misconduct to the Committee on
Academic Misconduct. I will report you if you engage in suspicious behavior. Ignorance of
the rules and mores regarding plagiarism and academic misconduct is no excuse. See the following website for some suggestions about preserving academic integrity: http://oaa.osu.edu/
coamtensuggestions.html
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Disability Services
Students with disabilities (including mental health,
chronic or temporary medical conditions) that have
been certified by the Office of Student Life Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated
and should inform the instructor as soon as possible
of their needs. The Office of Student Life Disability
Services is located in 098 Baker Hall, 113 W. 12th
Avenue; telephone 614- 292-3307, slds@osu.edu;https:
//slds.osu.edu.
Mental Health Statement
As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as
strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to
diminished academic performance or reduce a student’s ability to participate in daily activities.
The Ohio State University offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns
you may be experiencing.
If you are or someone you know is suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can
learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus via
the Office of Student Life’s Counseling and Consultation Service (CCS) by visiting ccs.osu.edu or
calling 614–292–5766. CCS is located on the 4th Floor of the Younkin Success Center and 10th
Floor of Lincoln Tower. You can reach an on-call counselor when CCS is closed at 614-292-5766.
If you are thinking of harming yourself or need a safe, non-judgmental place to talk, or if you
are worried about someone else and need advice about what to do, 24 hour emergency help is also
available through the Suicide Prevention Hotline (Columbus: 614-221-5445 / National: 800-2738255); or text (4hope to 741741); or at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
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Course Schedule
This is a tentative course schedule. We may go faster or we may go slower, depending upon the
pace of class discussion. This is ambitions and we will likely not cover everything listed below.
There are no dates, but we will generally proceed in order. At the start of every lecture, I will tell
you what we will be covering the following lecture.
Introduction
Solow, Robert M. 1985. “Economic History and Economics.” American Economic Review,
328—331.
Economic growth & Malthusian stagnation
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. 2004. “Institutions as the Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth.” In Handbook of Economic Growth, Philippe Aghion
and Steve Durlauf, eds. Amsterdam: North-Holland. Pages 1-29 only.
Clark, Gregory. 2007. A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Chapters 2, p. 19—39.
The rise & fall of the Roman economy
Temin, Peter. 2013. “Chapter 10. Economic Growth in a Malthusian Empire” in “The
Roman Market Economy.” Princeton University Press, 220–242.
Jongman, Willem. 2019. “The economic archaeology of Roman economic performance.” In
Finding the Limits of the Limes, Philip Verhagen, Jamie Joyce, and Mark R. Groenhuijzen,
eds., 95–107.
Jongman, Willem. 2006. “Gibbon was right: The decline and fall of the Roman economy.”
Crises and the Roman Empire, 183–199.
Serfdom
Ogilvie, Sheilagh. 2007. “‘Whatever Is, Is Right’ ? Economic Institutions in Pre-Industrial
Europe.” Economic History Review, 649–684.
Domar, Evsey D. 1970. “The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis.” Journal of
Economic History, 30(1), p. 18–32.
Markevich, Andrei and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. 2018. “The Economic Effects of the Abolition of Serfdom: Evidence from the Russian Empire.” American Economic Review, 108, p.
1074–1117.
Jensen, Peter; Radu, Christina; Severgnini, Battista; and Paul Sharp. 2018. “The introduction of serfdom and labour markets.” EHES Working Paper No. 140.
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Guilds & fairs
Oglivie, Sheilagh. 2014. “The Economics of Guilds.” Journal of Economic Perspectives,
28(4), p. 169–192.
Lindberg, Erik. 2009. “Club goods and inefficient institutions: why Danzig and Lübeck
failed in the early modern period.” Economic History Review, 62(3), p. 604–628.
Edwards, Jeremy and Sheilagh Ogilvie. 2012. “What lessons for economic development can
we draw from the Champagne fairs?” Explorations in Economic History, 49, p. 131–148.
Land reform & enclosure
Heldring, Leander, James A. Robinson and Sebastian Vollmer. 2021. “The Long-run Impact
of the Dissolution of the English Monasteries.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, p. 2093–
2145.
Heldring, Leander, James A. Robinson and Sebastian Vollmer. 2022. “The Economic Effects
of the English Parliamentary Enclosures.” NBER Working Paper 29772.
Pfister, Ulrich and Michael Kopsidis. 2014. “Institutions versus demand: determinants of
agricultural development in Saxong, 1660–1850.” European Review of Economic History, 19,
p. 275–293.
Finley, Theresa, Raphael Franck, and Noel D. Johnson. 2021. “The Effects of Land Redistribution: Evidence from the French Revolution.” Journal of Law and Economics, 64, p.
233–267.
Trade, tariffs, & market integration
Federico, Giovanni; Schulze, Max-Stephan; and Oliver Volckart. 2021. “European Goods
Market Integration in the Very Long Run: From the Black Death to the First World War.”
Journal of Economic History, 81(1), p. 276–308.
Federico, Giovanni. 2012. “The Corn Laws in continental perspective.” European Review of
Economic History, 16, p. 166–187.
Keller, Wolfgang and Carol H. Shiue. 2014. “Endogenous Formation of Free Trade Agreements: Evidence from the Zollverein’s Impact on Market Integration.” Journal of Economic
History, 74(4), p. 1168–1204.
“Shock Therapy”?
Acemoglu, Daron, Davide Cantoni, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. 2011. “The
Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution.” American Economic Review,
3286–3307.
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Kopsidis, Michael and Daniel W. Bromley. 2016. “The French Revolution and German industrialization: dubious models and doubtful causality.” Journal of Institutional Economics,
12(1), 161–190.
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Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. 2005. “The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth.” American Economic Review,
95(3): 546–579.
Henriques, Antonio and Nuno Palma. 2022. “Comparative European institutions and the
Little Divergence, 1385–1800.” CAGE Working Paper No. 583.
O’Brien, Patrick. 1982. “European Economic Development: The Contribution of the Periphery.” Economic History Review, 1–18.
Eltis, David and Stanley L. Engerman. 2000. “The Importance of Slavery and the Slave
Trade to Industrializing Britain.” Journal of Economic History, 123–144.
Kedrosky, Davis and Nuno Palma. 2021. “The Cross of Gold: Brazilian Treasure and the
Decline of Portugal.” CAGE Working Paper No. 574.
Hersh, Jonathan and Hans-Joachim Voth. 2022. “Sweet diversity: Colonial goods and the
welfare gains from global trade after 1492.” Explorations in Economic History, forthcoming.
The Glorious Revolution
North, Douglass C. and Barry R. Weingast. 1989. “Constitutions and Commitment: The
Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England.” Journal of Economic History, 803–832.
Clark, Gregory. 1996. “The Political Foundations of Modern Economic Growth: England,
1540—1800.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 563—588.
Epstein, S.R. 2000. Freedom and Growth: The Rise of States and Markets in Europe, 13001750. Chapter 2 only.
Bogart, Dan. 2011. “Did the Glorious Revolution contribute to the transport revolution?
Evidence from investment in roads and rivers.” Economic History Review, 1073-1112.
Cox, Gary W. 2011. “War, Moral Hazard, and Ministerial Responsibility: England After
the Glorious Revolution.” Journal of Economic History, 133-161.
Effective States
La Porta, Rafael, Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes, and Andrei Shleifer. 2008. “The Economic
Consequences of Legal Origins.” Journal of Economic Literature, 46(2): 285–332.
Johnson, Noel D. and Mark Koyama. 2017. “States and Economic Growth: Capacity and
Constraints.” Explorations in Economic History, 1-20.
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Dinecco, Mark. 2015. “The Rise of Effective States in Europe.” Journal of Economic History,
901-918.
Gennaioli, Nicola and Hans-Joachim Voth. 2015. “State Capacity and Military Conflict.”
Review of Economic Studies, 1409-1448.
O’Brien, Patrick Karl. 2007. “State Formation and the Construction of Institutions for
the First Industrial Nation” in Institutional Change and Economic Development, Ha-Joon
Chang, ed., 177–197.
Reading, ’riting, ’rithmetic, and Revaluation
Becker, Sascha O. and Ludger Woessmann. 2009. “Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital
Theory of Protestant Economic History.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 531-595.
Cantoni, Davide. 2015. “The Economic Effects of the Protestant Reformation: Testing
the Weber Thesis in the German Lands.” Journal of the European Economic Association,
561-598.
Botticini, Maristella and Zvi Eckstein. 2005. “Jewish Occupational Selection: Education,
Restrictions, or Minorities?” Journal of Economic History, 65(4), p. 922–948.
Mokyr, Joel. 2010. “The European Enlightenment and the Origins of Modern Economic
Growth” in Jeff Horn, Leonard Rosenband, and Merritt Roe Smith, eds., Reconceptualizing
the Industrial Revolution, 65-86.
Kelly, Morgan and Cormac O Grada. 2020. “Connecting the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions: The Role of Practical Mathematics.” UCD School of Economics University College
Dublin Working Paper.
McCloskey, Dierdre Nansen. 2016. “The great enrichment: a humanistic and social scientific
account.” Scandinavian Economic History Review, 64(1), p. 6–18.
The British Industrial Revolution
Broadberry, Stephen. “Britain, the Industrial Revolution, and Modern Economic Growth.”
in Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World, Vol. I, 21—44.
Crafts, N.F.R. and C. K. Harley. “Output Growth and the British Industrial Revolution: A
Restatement of the Crafts-Harley View.” Economic History Review, 703—730.
Temin, Peter. 1997. “Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution.” Journal of Economic
History, 63—82.
Why Britain?
Allen, Robert C. 2011. “Why the industrial revolution was British: commerce, induced
invention, and the scientific revolution.” Economic History Review, 357—384.
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Kelly, Morgan, Joel Mokyr, and Cormac O’Grada. 2022. “The Mechanics of the Industrial
Revolution,” Journal of Political Economy, forthcoming.
The Industrious Revolution
De Vries, Jan. 1994. “The Industrial Revolution and the Industrious Revolution.” Journal
of Economic History, 249—270.
Voth, Hans-Joachim. 1998. “Time and Work in Eighteenth-Century London.” Journal of
Economic History, 29—58.
Koyama, Mark. 2012.“The Transformation on Labor Supply in the Pre-Industrial World.”
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 505-523.
Humphries, Jane and Jacob Weisdorf. 2017. “Unreal Wages? Real Income and Economic
Growth in England, 1260-1850.” EHES Working Paper No. 121.
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