History of Economic Development
Economics
8764-001
Spring 2006 Tuesday
& Thursday 11-12:15 pm, Econ 119.
Professor
Carol H. Shiue, email shiue@colorado.edu, Econ 206, R 3:30-5, F 10:30-12
Professor Ann Carlos, email ann.carlos@colorado.edu,
Econ 208A, TR
Course Outline
and Reading List
Overview
Economics 8764 is a topics course on economic history designed
for Ph.D. students in the Economics Department. The goal is not to give a comprehensive survey
of world history, but to show how theoretical approaches and quantitative
methods can be applied to historical evidence, and how economic understanding
on many issues can benefit from historical analysis. We will be concerned with both the arguments
of well-known articles and books, as well as recent research findings. Themes examined include the determinants of
economic growth and standards of living, demographic change, technological innovation,
and inequality.
Classes are held as a mixture of lecture, discussion,
and student presentation. This course presumes knowledge of the first-year
graduate sequences in microeonomics and econometrics. Graduate students in other degree programs may
take the course, subject to seating availability and with the instructors’
approval.
Requirements
1)
Read the papers for
each week, prepare a one-page summary for each required paper, and be prepared
to participate in class discussions. Students may be asked to summarize a paper
and give comments. Paper summaries and overall class participation are weighted
10% and 10%, respectively, in the course grade.
2)
Two exams. Both
exams will be open book. The midterm exam is scheduled for February 28. The
final will be scheduled later. Each exam is 20% of the course grade.
3)
A 15-page
discussion of a research question that is motivated by this class. The proposal
should be more than a literature review.
Rather, you should place your question in the context of the existing
literature, explain what you would do to go about answering the question better—you
could do this, for example, by providing a sketch of the theoretical framework behind
your hypothesis, identifying the data sources that provides the necessary evidence,
and describing your empirical strategy and methodology. Note that as this is a research proposal, you
are not asked to actually produce the final results. However, the elements of
your approach must be consistent with the known or available historical
evidence. Ingenuity and feasibility are two aspects of your proposal that will
be valued and rewarded. All students will be asked to give a short presentation
of their proposal during several classes near the conclusion of the semester.
The paper and presentation counts 40% in the course grade.
Reading List
Outline—Part I, Shiue, January 17 – February 28.
There is no required text for the course. Background
readings are indicated by (B). Required readings are indicated with a **. Optional
readings are indicated by (O). Most are available online.
1.
Introduction: Economic
History
** Robert M.
Solow (1985), "Economic History and Economics," American Economic
Review Papers and Proceedings 75:2 (May), pp. 328-331
(O)
Parker William H. ed. (1986). Economic
History and the Modern Economist.
2.
Patterns of Economic
Development: From the Great Divergence to the 20th century.
(B) Massimo Livi-Bacci
(1997). A Concise History of World Population, 35-110.
**Gregory Clark
(2005), "The Logic of the Malthusian Economy," chapter 2 of The
Conquest of Nature http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/GlobalHistory/Global%20History-2.pdf
** Easterlin, Richard A. (2000). “Worldwide Standard of Living Since 1800,”
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
14(1): 7-26.
(O) Angus Maddison A Comparison of
Levels of
3.
Measures of Living
Standards, Real wages and Physical well-being
(B) Fogel, Robert. (2004). The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death,
1700-2100,
(B) Clark, Gregory
(2005). "Living Standards in the Malthusian Era," chapter 3 of The
Conquest of Nature http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/GlobalHistory/Global%20History-3.pdf
(B) Richard Easterlin (1996),
Growth Triumphant, pp. 15-112; 131-144.
** Ozmucur, Suleyman and
Sevket Pamkut, (2002). “Real Wages and Standards of Living in the
** Clark, Gregory (2005).
“Conditions of the Working Class in
** Allen,
Robert (2001). “The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the
Middle Ages to the First World War,” Explorations
in Economic History 38: 411-447.
** Steckel, Richard (1995). “Stature and the Standard
of Living, ” Journal of Economic Literature.
** Steckel, Richard. “Health and Nutrition in
Pre-Columbian
4.
Modern Economic Growth—Explanations
(B) Landes, David (1969), Prometheus Unbound, pp. 1-42, 43-230.
(B) Jones,
Eric L. (1988), Growth Recurring, pp.
13-73, 149-168
(B) Mokyr,
Joel (1990), Lever of Riches Part
(B) Landes, David (1998), The Wealth and Poverty
of Nations, pp. 3-59, 168-212.
(B) Pomeranz, Kenneth (2000),
The Great Divergence, pp. 3-107,
209-297.
4.1.
Agricultural Transformation
(B) Todaro, Michael P. and Steven C. Smith (2003). Economic Development. Chapter 10.
(B) Timmer, C.P. (1998). “The Agricultural Transformation,” chapter 10 of Handbook of Development Economics, Vol.
1 edited by Hollis Chenery and T.N.
Srinivasan.
** Mokyr, Joel. (1974). “The Industrial Revolution in the Low Countries in
the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: A Comparative Case Study,” The Journal of Economic History, 34(2): 365-391.
** Wright, Gavin (1979). “Cheap Labor
and Southern Textiles before 1880,” The Journal of Economic History, 39(3): 655-680.
** Allen, Robert (1999), “Tracking
the Agricultural Revolution in
**
(O) Allen, Robert (1994). “Agriculture during the Industrial Revolution,”
Chapter 5 of The Economic History of
Britain since 1700, Volume I, edited by Roderick Floud and Deidre
McCloskey.
(O) Crafts, Nick (1994). “The Industrial Revolution,” Chapter 3 of The Economic History of Britain since 1700,
Volume I, edited by Roderick Floud and Deidre McCloskey.
(O)
Sokoloff, Kenneth and David Dollar (1997), "Agricultural Seasonality and
the Organization of Manufacturing in Early Industrial Societies: The Contrast
Between
4.2. Openness, Commerce, and Development
(B) Edwards, Sebastian
(1993). “Openness, Trade Liberalization, and Growth in Developing Countries,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 31,
No. 3. (Sep., 1993), pp. 1358-1393.
** Frankel, Jeffrey A. and
David Romer (1999). “Does Trade Cause Growth?” The American Economic Review, Vol. 89, No. 3. (Jun., 1999), pp.
379-399.
** Kevin H.
O'Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson (2002), "From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade,
Growth and Distribution Since 1500" (
** Shiue, Carol H. and
Wolfgang Keller. “Markets in
China and Europe on the Eve of the Industrial Revolution,” October
2005, http://spot.colorado.edu/~shiue/MarketsChinaEurope.pdf
** Shiue, Carol H. (2002).
“Transport Costs and the Geography of Arbitrage in Eighteenth Century
4.3.
Political Foundations
** North Douglass C., and B.
R. Weingast. 1989 (December). “Constitutions
and Commitment: Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice.” Journal of Economic History XLIX,
803-32.
** Clark, Gregory. 1996. “The
Political Foundations of Modern Economic Growth:
** Greif, Avner. 2005. “Commitment,
Coercion, and Markets: The Nature and Dynamics of Institutions Supporting
Exchange.” Chapter 28 of the Handbook for New Institutional
Economics. Edited by Claude Menard and Mary M. Shirley. Norwell MA:
Kluwer Academic Publishers. http://www-econ.stanford.edu/academics/greif_228_2005/Greif.2005%20%20Commitment%20Coercive,%20and%20Markets.pdf
** J. Bradford DeLong and
Andrei Shleifer (1993), "Princes and
Merchants: City Growth
Before the Industrial Revolution," Journal of Law and Economics 36. http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/pdf_files/Princes.pdf
(O) Dixit, Avinash K. Lawlessness and Economics: Alternative Modes
of Governance.
4.4. Institutions and Economic Performance
(B) North, Douglass C. 1990. Institutions,
Institutional Change and Economic Performance.
(B) Ozmucur, Suleyman and
Sevket Pamkut, “Institutional Change and the Longevity of the
** North, Douglass C. and
Robert P. Thomas. 1973. The Rise of the Western World.
** Hall, Robert E. and
Charles I. Jones. 1999. "Why Do Some
Countries Produce So Much More Output per Worker than Others?" Quarterly
Journal of Economics,
114:83-116.
** Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A.
Robinson. 2001. "The Colonial
Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation."
American Economic Review 91 (December): 1369-1401.
** Banerjee,
Abhijit; Iyer, Lakshmi (2004). “History, Institutions, and Economic
Performance: The Legacy of
(O) Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James
Robinson (2005). “The Rise of
4.5 Inequality and Development
(B) Peter H. Lindert (1986),
"Unequal English Wealth since 1670," Journal of Political Economy
94(6): 1127-1162
** Engerman, Stanley and
Kenneth Sokoloff (2002), "Factor Endowments, Institutions and Differential
Paths of Development Among
** Easterly, William (2001).
“Middle Class Consensus and Economic Growth,” Journal of Economic Growth 6: 318-326.
5.
The Spread of the Industrial
Revolution and Convergence
** Pritchett,
Lant (1997). “Divergence, Big Time,” Journal
of Economic Perspectives 11(3): 3-17.
** Bourguignon,
Francois and Morrisson Christian (2002). “Inequality Among World Citizens:
1820-1992,” American Economic Review
92(4): 727-744.
(O)
Baumol, William J. (1986). “Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare: What
the Long-Run Data Show,” American
Economic Review 76(5): 1072-1085.
(O)
De Long, J. Bradford (1986). “Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare: A
Comment,” American Economic Review
76(5): 1138-1154.
(O)
Dowrick, Steve and De Long, J. Bradford (2003). “Globalization and
Convergence,” Chapter 4 of Globalization
in Historical Perspective, edited by Michael Bordo, Alan M. Taylor, and
Jeffrey G, Williamson.
6. Borders and Transport Costs: Past and
Present.
** Engel, Charles and John H.
Rogers (1996). “How Wide Is the Border?” The American Economic Review 86(5): 1112-1125.
**
Shiue, Carol H. (2005). “From Political Fragmentation towards a Customs Union:
Border Effects of the German Zollverein, 1815 to 1855,” European Review of Economic History,
August 9(2): 129-162. http://spot.colorado.edu/~shiue/BorderEffects_022504.pdf
(O) McCallum, John (1995). “National Borders Matter: Canada-U.S. Regional
Trade Patterns,” The American Economic Review 85(3): 615-623.
(O) Keller, Wolfgang and
Carol H. Shiue (forthcoming) “The Origins of Spatial Interaction: Evidence from
Chinese Rice Markets, 1742-1795,” Journal
of Econometrics.
http://spot.colorado.edu/~shiue/Origins.pdf
7. Cities
and Regional Development: Distribution of Economic Activity
(B) Krugman, Paul (1998). Development, Geography, and Economic Theory.
(B) Hohenberg, Paul M. “The Historical Geography of European Cities:
An Interpretive Essay” In Handbook of Urban and Regional Economics, edited by
J.V. Henderson and J-F. Thisse.
http://www.econ.brown.edu/faculty/henderson/handbook.html
(B) Sukkoo Kim and Robert Margo,
“Historic Perspectives on U.S. Economic
Geography” In Handbook of Urban and Regional Economics, edited by J.V.
Henderson and J-F. Thisse.
http://www.econ.brown.edu/faculty/henderson/handbook.html
(B) Masahisa Fujita, J.
“Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities
in
http://www.econ.brown.edu/faculty/henderson/handbook.html
** Davis, Donald and David
Weinstein (2002). “Bombs, Bones, and Breaking Points,” American Economic Review 92(5).
http://www.columbia.edu/~drd28/BBB.pdf
** Rauch, James E.(1993), “Does History
Matter Only When It Matters Little? The Case of City-Industry Location.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 108, No. 3. (Aug.,
1993), pp. 843-867.