Foley, M. European Economic Histroy
Economics 345/History 311 European Economic History
Michael Foley
Reed College
MWF 1:10-2:00
Spring 1996
231 CC
Office Hrs: W 3-4, Th 1-3
Ext. 7838
General:
This course draws on economic reasoning to examine the transformation
of the European economies from ones in which Malthusian pressures on population
were the dominant historical fact to ones in which population growth and rising
per capita income had become the norm. This transformation marks one of
history's great watersheds, yet the underlying causes of this development are
not well understood. This course aims to provide both an historical
perspective and an opportunity to apply current economic analysis to these
questions. The topics of the course range from the economy of early modern
Europe, with particular attention paid to the institutional setting that
supported growth, to the Industrial Revolution in Britain, and its social
impact, and finally to the emergence of an international economy. No attempt
will be made to present a comprehensive account of the economic history of
particular national economies within Europe.
Texts:
The following books are available at the Bookstore. One copy of each
has been placed on 2 hour reserve. In addition, all of the books and journal
articles listed in the syllabus with an asterisk have been placed on 2-hour
reserve.
Required:
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches.
Douglass North and Robert Thomas, The Rise of the Western World.
Eric Jones, European Miracle.
Requirements:
1. The course is designed as a seminar in which the learning takes place
during discussion of assigned readings. Therefore, student preparation and
participation is essential. All students will be responsible for the basic
(starred) readings on each topic. I will frequently ask randomly-chosen
students to briefly present the facts of the day's reading and to give their
analysis of the central argument and the evidence used by the authors.
2. Each student will make two ten-minute presentations to the class. One
of these will be based on the assigned reading for that day, summarizing the
argument and raising questions for subsequent class discussion. The other will
be based on your proposed research project. You should summarize the basic
question you are investigating, and discuss the evidence you hope will be
salient to your investigation. This presentation will serve to help refine
your question, to uncover potential problems and to expose your colleagues to
additional areas of research.
3. Each student will complete a substantial (15-20 page) analytical paper
on some contentious issue in economic history. This project will proceed in
two phases: an initial period of background reading followed by a 4-5 page
proposal, due on February 28, and class presentation; a final version of the
paper, due on the last day of classes. I will distribute a detailed handout on
the research project, including a list of possible topics and an initial
reading list for each, at the end of the first week.
4. There will be a comprehensive final examination. Study questions will
be handed out at the end of the semester.
The relative weights of these requirements are as follows:
Presentations 20%
Final Exam: 30%
Research Paper: 30%
Class Participation: 20%
The following abbreviations are used for journals:
EEH Explorations in Economic History
EHR Economic History Review
JEH Journal of Economic History
AER American Economic Review
EJ Economic Journal
In the following reading list, the most important readings are
indicated with a "*". All students should read these items before the dates
indicated. It is expected that you will come to class ready to discuss the
starred readings.
Course Outline and Readings
Dates
I. Methodology Jan.
22, 24
1. The Uses of Economic History.
*McCloskey, Donald (1976), "Does the Past Have Useful Economics?", Journal of
Economic Literature (June).
*Solow, Robert, Donald McCloskey, Paul David and Gavin Wright (1986), Essays
collected in Parker, William N. (ed.) (1986), Economic History and the Modern
Economist.
II. Economic Growth in Theory and History
1. The Characteristics and Sources of Economic Growth. Jan.
26, 29
*Mokyr, Joel (1990), The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and
Economic Progress, Introduction
*Jones, Eric (1987), European Miracle, chs. 3-7.
Rostow, Walter (1960), The Stages of Economic Growth
Fishlow, Albert (1965), "Empty Economic Stages," EJ (75), 112-25
2. Externalities, Increasing Returns and History.
Jan. 31
*David, Paul (1975), Technological Choice, Innovation and Economic Growth,
Introduction
Krugman, Paul (1991), Geography and Trade.
David, Paul and Joshua Rosenbloom (1990), "Marshallian Factor Market
Externalities and the Dynamics of Industrial Localization," Journal of Urban
Economics 28, 349-70
Romer, Paul (1986), "Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth," Journal of
Political Economy, 1002-37.
III. The Development of Institutions
1. Explaining Institutional Change
Feb. 2, 5, 7
*North, Douglass and R. P. Thomas (1973), The Rise of the Western World, chs.
1-7
Fenoaltea, Stefano (1975), "The Rise and Fall of a Theoretical Model: The
Manorial System," JEH 35(2), 386-409
*Field, Alexander (1981), "The Problem with Neoclassical Institutional
Economics,"EEH, 174-98
North, Douglass (1981), Structure and Change in Economic History, chs.
1-6
*North, Douglass and Barry Weingast (1989), "Constitutions and Commitments:
The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth Century
England," JEH 49(4), 802-32
Field, Alexander (1984), "Microeconomics, Norms and Rationality,"
Economic Development and Cultural Change 32(2), 683-711
2. The Rise of Commerce in Medieval Europe
Feb. 9, 12, 14
*Rosenberg, Nathan and L. E. Birdzell (1986), How the West Grew Rich: The
Economic Transformation of the Industrial World, chs. 4
de Roover, R. (1965), "The Organization of Trade," in M. M. Postan and H.
J. Habakkuk, Cambridge Economic History of Europe, vol. 3
*Gustafsson, Bo (1991); "The Rise and Economic Behavior of Medieval Craft
Guilds," in Bo Gustafsson (ed.) Power and Economic Institutions
*Hickson, Charles and Earl Thompson (1991); "A New Theory of Guilds and
European Economic Development," EEH 28(2), 127-168
*Greif, Avner (1989), "Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence
on the Maghribi Traders," JEH 49(4), 847-82
3. The Persistence and Demise of Open Field Agriculture
Feb. 16, 19, 21
*McCloskey, Donald (1975), "The Persistence of English Common Fields," in
W. N. Parker and E. L. Jones (eds.), European Peasants and Their Markets
McCloskey, Donald (1976), "English Open Fields as Behavior Toward Risk,"
in P. Uselding (ed.), Research in Economic History, vol. 1, 124-70
*Fenoaltea, Stefano (1976), "Risk, Transactions Costs, and the Organization
of Medieval Agriculture," EEH 13(2), 129-52
Dahlman, Carl (1980), The Open Field System and Beyond, ch. 4
*Marx, Karl (1867) Capital vol. I, ch. 27.
*Cohen, Jon and Martin Weitzman (1975), "Enclosures and Depopulation: A
Marxian Analysis," in W. N. Parker and E. L. Jones (eds.), European Peasants
and Their Markets
Fenoaltea, Stefano (1975); "Authority, Efficiency, and Agricultural
Organization in Medieval England and Beyond: A Hypothesis," JEH 35(4), 693-719
*McCloskey, Donald (1975), "The Economics of Enclosure," in W. N. Parker and
E. L. Jones (eds.), European Peasants and Their Markets
*Humphries, Jane (1990) "Enclosures, Common Rights and Women," JEH 50(1),
17-42.
Thompson, E.P. (1963)The Making of the English Working Class, ch. 7
Allen, Robert (1982), "The Efficiency and Distributional Consequences of
18th Century Enclosures," EJ 92(4)
4. Labor Organization: Factory Discipline and Wage Labor
Feb. 23, 26
*Marglin, Stephen (1974), "What Do Bosses Do?" Review of Radical Political
Economy, 64-104
*Landes, David (1986), "What Do Bosses Really Do?" JEH 46(3), 585-623
Marglin, Stephen (1984), "Knowledge and Power," in Frank Stephen (ed.),
Firms, Organization and Labour
Thompson, E. P. (1967), "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial
Capitalism," Past and Present, 56-97
*Clark, Gregory (1994), "Factory Discipline," JEH 54(2)
IV. Growth and Its Consequences
1. Western Technological Dynamism: History and Sources*
Feb. 28, Mar. 1, 4
*Mokyr, Joel (1990), The Lever of Riches, chs. 2-10
Rosenberg, Nathan (1982), "The Historiography of Technical Progress," ch.
1 of Nathan Rosenberg, Inside the Black Box
2. The Agricultural Revolution*
Mar. 6, 8, 18, 20
*Jones, Eric (1976), "Editor's Introduction," in Eric Jones (ed.)
Agriculture and Economic Growth in England, 1650-1815
*Brenner, Robert (1976); "Agrarian Class Structure and Economic Development
in Pre-Industrial Europe," Past and Present 70, 30-75
*deVries, Jan (1974), The Dutch Rural Economy in the Golden Age, ch. 1
Chambers, J. D. and G. E. Mingay (1966), The Agricultural Revolution,
chs. 3-4
Timmer, C. Peter (1968), "The Turnip, the New Husbandry and the English
Agricultural Revolution," Quarterly Journal of Economics (August), 375-95
*Grantham, George (1989), "Agricultural Supply During the Industrial
Revolution: French Evidence and European Implications," JEH 89(1) 43-72
Hoffman, Philip (1991), "Land Rents and Agricultural Productivity: The
Paris Basin, 1450-1789," JEH 51(4) 771-805
*Clark, Gregory (1992), "The Economics of Exhaustion, the Postan Thesis and
the Agricultural Revolution," JEH 52(1), 61-84
Clark, Gregory (1988), "The Cost of Capital and Medieval Agricultural
Technique," EEH 25(3), 256-94
3. The Industrial Revolution*
Mar. 22, 25, 27, 29
*Floud, R. and D. N. McCloskey (1981), The Economic History of Britain Since
1700, vol. I, ch. 6
Crafts, N. F. R. (1983), "British Economic Growth, 1700-1831: A Review of
the Evidence," EHR 36(2) 177-99
*Mokyr, Joel (1977), "Demand vs Supply in the Industrial Revolution," JEH
37(4), 981-1008
*deVries, Jan (1994), "The Industrial Revolution and the Industrious
Revolution," JEH 54(2), 249-270
*Berg, Maxine and Pat Hudson, "Rehabilitating the Industrial Revolution," EHR
45(1), 24-50
*Cannadine, David (1984), "The Present and the Past in the English Industrial
Revolution," Past and Present
4. The Social Consequences of Industrialization
Apr. 1, 3, 5
*Ashton, T.S. (1949), "The Standard of Life of the Workers in England,
1790-1830," JEH, supplement IX.
*Hobsbawm, Eric (1968), Industry and Empire, ch. 4
Floud, R. and D. N. McCloskey (1981), The Economic History of Britain Since
1700, vol. I, ch. 9
*Lindert, Peter and Jeffrey Williamson (1983), "English Workers' Living
Standards During the Industrial Revolution: A New Look," EHR 36(1), 1-25
*Mokyr, Joel (1988), "Is There Still Life in the Pessimist Case?" JEH (2)
Feinstein, Charles (1989), "The Rise and Fall of the Williamson Curve,"
JEH 48(3), 699-729
*Horrell, Sara & Jane Humphries (1992), "Old Questions, New Data and
Alternative Perspectives: Families' Living Standards in the Industrial
Revolution,"JEH 48(1), 849-880
Humphries, Jane (1987), "'The Most Free from Objection...':The Sexual
Division of Labor and Women in 19th Century England," JEH 47(4), 929-950
*Weir, David (1984), "Life Under Pressure: France and England, 1670-1870,"
JEH 44(2), 27-47
Weir, David (1989), "Malthus' Theory of Population," in The New Palgrave
Economic Development, 226-231
Wrigley, E. A. and R. S. Schofield (1981), The Population History of
England, 1541-1871, pp. 454-84. See the review of this work by Peter Lindert
in EEH (April 1983), 131-55
5. The Diffusion of Economic Growth
Apr. 8, 10, 12
*Crouzet, Francois (1967), "England and France in the 18th Century:A
Comparative Analysis of Two Economic Growths," in Britain Ascendant:
Comparative Studies in Franco-British History, 12-43
*Crafts, N. F. R. (1977), "Industrial Revolution in England and France: Some
Thoughts on the Question 'Why Was England First?'," EHR 30(3), 429-41
*Gerschenkron, Alexander (1962), Economic Backwardness in Historical
Perspective, pp. 5-30
*Sylla, Richard and G. Toniolo (1987); "Introduction," in their Patterns of
European Industrialization during the Nineteenth Century, 1-24
*Roehl, Richard (1976), "French Industrialization: A Reconsideration", EEH
13(2)
Crafts, N.F.R. (1984), "Economic Growth in France and Britain, 1830-1910: A
Review of the Evidence," JEH 54(1), 49-67
*Tilly, Richard (1990), "Germany," in Richard Sylla and Gianni Toniolo (eds.)
Patterns of European Industrialization, 175-196
Borchardt, K (1973), "The Industrial Revolution in Germany, 1700-1914," in
The Fontana Economic History of Europe, vol 4(1)
Webb, Steven (1980), "Tariffs, Cartels, Technology, and Growth in the
German Steel Industry, 1879 to 1914," JEH 40(2), 309-329
6. The Expanding International Economy Apr.
15, 17, 19
*Milward, Alan and S.B. Saul, The Development of the Economies of Continental
Europe, 1850-1914, ,ch. 9
*Harley, C. K. and D. McCloskey, "Foreign Trade: Competition and the Expanding
International Economy," in Floud and McCloskey eds., The Economic History of
Britain since 1700, vol. 2, ch. 3.
*Hobsbawm, Eric Industry and Empire, ch. 7.
*O'Brien, Patrick (1982), "European Economic Development: The Contribution of
the Periphery," EHR 35(1), 1-18
*Davis, Lance and R. Huttenback, Mammon and the Pursuit of Empire, ch. 10.
Edelstein, M (1981); "Foreign Investment and Empire, 1860-1914," in Floud
and McCloskey eds., The Economic History of Britain since 1700, vol. 2, ch. 4.
V. Convergence Apr.
22, 24, 26
*Easterlin, Richard (1981), "Why Isn't the Whole World Developed?", JEH
41(1), 1-27
*Clark, Gregory (1987), "Why Isn't the Whole World Developed? Lessons From
the Cotton Mills," JEH 47(1), 141-73
*Abramovitz, Moses (1986), "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind,"
JEH 46(2), 386-406
*Economic History Newsgroup (1995); "Seminar on Convergence".
*Parker, William (1982), Europe, America and the Wider World, vol. 1, ch. 11.