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Clark, G. European Economic History
Professor Gregory Clark Fall 1991
Rm. 354 Kerr Hall MW 3-4:30
Phone: 752-9242 5 Wellman
Office Hours: Wed. 9:30-11:00, Fri. 9:30-11:00
ECONOMICS 210A - EUROPEAN ECONOMIC HISTORY
Description
Economics 210A covers topics in European Economic History from the
Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The course focuses on the causes of
economic development in Europe, and the economic forces shaping social
institutions in various periods. It does not give a detailed economic history
of particular national economies within Europe.
Requirements
There will be an in-class final (Wed., Dec. 11, 10:30-12:30) and a short
research project. The grade will be 60% for the final and 40% for the
research project.
Readings
There is no required book for the course. Class notes will be handed
out periodically. The most important readings on the reading list are
indicated by an * and will be on reserve in the Department library.
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
JPE - Journal of Political Economy
OUTLINE AND READINGS
I. ECONOMIC GROWTH IN HISTORY AND IN THEORY
1. Introduction: The Proximate Sources of Economic Growth
*Clark (1991), "Economic Growth in History and in Theory."
*Mokyr (1990), The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic
Progress, 19-112.
*Hobsbawm, E.J. (1968), Industry and Empire, 23-78.
*Floud, R. and D.N. McCloskey (1981), The Economic History of Britain since
1700, Vol. I, 103-127.
*Crafts, Nick (1985), British Economic Growth During the Industrial
Revolution, 70-88.
Baumal et al (1989), Productivity and American Leadership, 9-28, 163-194.
Crafts, N.F.R. (1977), "The Industrial Revolution in England and France: Some
Thoughts on the Question, "Why Was England First?" Economic History
Review, 429-441.
2. Growth and Property Rights
*North, Douglass and R.P. Thomas (1973), The Rise of the Western World, 1-8.
*Hoffman, Philip (1988), "Institutions and Agriculture in Old Regime France,
"Politics and Society, 16, 241-264.
North, Douglass and Barry Weingast (1989), "Constitutions and Commitment,"
Journal of Economic History, 803-832.
3. Increasing Returns and Externalities
*Romer, Paul. (1987), "Crazy Explanations for the Productivity Slowdown," NBER
Macroeconomics Annual, 163-210.
*Easterlin, Richard (1981), "Why Isn't the Whole World Developed?" JEH, 1-21.
*Clark, Gregory (1987), "Why Isn't the Whole World Developed? Lessons from
the Cotton Mills," JEH, 141-174.
*Clark, Gregory (1991), "Cotton History as World History."
Lucas, Robert (1988), "On the Mechanics of Economic Development," Journal of
Monetary Economics, 22, 3-42.
Delong, Brad and Larry Summers (1991), "Equipment Investment and Economic
Growth," QJE, 445-502.
Barro, Robert (1991), "Economic Growth in a Cross-Section of Countries," QJE,
407-444.
4. Social Structure
*Sahlins, Marshall (1972), Stone Age Economics, 41-99.
*Goldstone, J. (1987), "Cultural Orthodoxy, Risk, and Innovation: the
Divergence of the East and West in the Early Modern World," Sociological
Theory, 119-135.
*Crouzet, F. (1966), "England and France in the Eighteenth Century: A
Comparative Analysis of Two Economic Growths," 139-174.
5. Accumulation
*Baumal et al (1989), Productivity and American Leadership, 163-194.
*McCloskey, Donald and J. Nash (1984), "Corn at Interest," AER, 74(1), 174-
187.
*Clark, Gregory (1991), "The Causes of High Interest Rates in Medieval
Europe."
Hilton, R.H. (1975), "Rent and Capital Formation in Feudal Society," in The
English Peasantry in the Later Middle Ages, pp. 174 214.
Olson, Mancur and Martin J. Bailey (1981), "Positive Time Preference," JPE,
89, Feb., 1-25.
Marglin, Stephen (1984), Growth, Distribution, and Prices. 1-96.
6. Population, Fertility, and Economic Growth
*Schultz, T. Paul (1981), Economics of Population, 9-33.
*Hajnal, J. (1965), "European Marriage Patterns in Historical Perspective,"
in Glass, D.C. and D.E.C. Eversley (eds.), Population in History.
Smith, Richard (1981), "Fertility, Economy, and Household Formation in England
over Three Centuries," Population and Development Review, 7(4), 595-622.
Goldstone, J.A. (1986), "The Demographic Revolution in England: a Re- e
examination," Population Studies, 49, 5-33.
7. Exploitation and Economic Growth
*O'Brien, Patrick (1982), "European Economic Development: the Contribution of
the Periphery," Economic History Review, 1-18.
II. DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONS
1. Explaining Institutional Change
*North, Douglass and R.P. Thomas (1973), The Rise of the Western World.
Field, Alex (1981), "The Problem with Neoclassical Institutional Economics,"
EEH, 174-198.
2. Communal Agriculture
*Bennett, H.S. (1938), Life on the English Manor, 41-60, 77-96.
*McCloskey, Donald (1975), "The Persistence of English Common Fields," in W.N.
Parker and E.L. Jones (Eds.), European Peasants and Their Markets, 73-
121.
*Cohen, Jon and Martin Weitzman, "Enclosures and Depopulation: A Marxian
Analysis," in W. N. Parker and E.L. Jones (Eds.), European Peasants and
Their Markets, 161-178.
*Allen, Robert (1991), Enclosure and the Yeoman, Chs. 9, 12, 13. (forthcoming)
Clark, Gregory (1988), "The Cost of Capital and Medieval Agricultural
Technique," EEH, 25, 265-294.
McCloskey, Donald (1976), "English Open Fields as Behavior Towards Risk,"
Research in Economic History.
Fenoaltea, Stefano (1976), "Rish, Transactions Costs, and the Organization of
Medieval Agriculture," EEH, 13, 129-151.
3. Labor Organization: Slavery and Serfdom
*Domar, E. (1970), "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom: A Hypothesis," JEH, 18-
32.
Fenoaltea, Stefano (1984), "Slavery and Supervision in Comparative
Perspective," JEH, 44(3), 635-668.
Domar, E. and Mark Machina (1984), "On the Profitability of Russian Serfdom,"
JEH, 44(4), 919-955.
Fogel, R. and Stanley Engerman (1974), Time on the Cross. pp. 59-86.
4, Labor Organization: Factory Discipline
*Clark, Gregory (1989), "Factory Discipline."
*Marglin, Stephen (1974), "What Do Bosses Do?" Review of Radical Political
Economy, 64-104.
Smith, Adam (1776), The Wealth of Nations, 3-13.
Babbage, Charles (1835), The Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers, 4th. ed.,
Ch. 19, 169-190.
Buttrick, J. (1952), "The Inside Contract System," JEH (Summer).
Thompson, E.P. (1967), "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism,"
Past and Present, 56-97.
Marglin, Stephen (1984), "Knowledge and Power," in Frank H. Stephen, Firms,
Organization, and Labour.
5. Labor Organization: Wage Systems
*Huberman, Michael (1986), "Invisible Handshakes in Lancashire: Cotton
Spinning in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century," JEH, 987-998.
*Weitzman, Martin (1984), The Share Economy, 24-48, 72-122.
Weitzman, Martin (1983), "Some Macroeconomic Implications of Alternative
Compensation Systems," Economic Journal, 93(Dec.)
Matthews, Derek (1989), "The British Experience of Profit Sharing," EHR, 439-
464.
6. Imperialism
*Davis, Lance and Robert Huttenback (1986), Mammon and the Pursuit of Empire:
The Political Economy of British Imperialism, 1860-1912. 1-29.
Matthew, W.M. (1968), "The Imperialism of Free Trade: Peru, 1820-1870," EHR,
462-519.
7. Social Organization: Redistribution
*Boyer, George (1990), An Economic History of the Poor Law, pp. 51-121.
Lindert, Peter (1989), "Modern Fiscal Redistribution," (manuscript).
IV. MACROECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
1. Monetary Instability
*Brescianni-Turroni, C. (1937), the Economics of Inflation. 334-358 (see also
23-42, 183-223, 359-397).
*Dornbusch, Rudiger (1987), "Lessons from the German Inflation Experience in
the 1920s," in Macroeconomics and Finance: Essays in Honor of Franco
Modigliani, 337-366.
2. The Great Depression
*Hamilton, James (1988), "The Role of the Gold Standard in Propagating the
Great Depression," Contemporary Policy Issues, 67-89.
*Eichengreen, Barry (1988), "Did International Forces Cause the Great
Depression?" Contemporary Policy Issues, 90-114.
Kindleberger, Charles (1973), The World in Depression, 1929-39, 291-308.
Eichengreen, Barry and Jeffrey Sacks (1985), "Exchange Rates and Economic
Recovery in the 1930s," JEH, 925-946.