EH483     
The Development and Integration of the World Economy in the 19th and 20th Centuries

This information is for the 2020/21 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Natacha Postel-Vinay SAR 613

Availability

This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Quantitative Economic History, MSc in Accounting, Organisations and Institutions, MSc in Economic History, MSc in Economic History (Research), MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation, MSc in Global Economic History (Erasmus Mundus), MSc in Global Politics and MSc in Political Economy of Late Development. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

This course aims to provide an overview of the development and integration of the world economy from 1800 to the present, giving an understanding of the origins of the challenges we face in the 21st century. The course raises fundamental questions about the sources of the unprecedented levels of economic growth in the last two centuries and the past and present challenges to economic development that have led to sharp divergences in income between countries and regions. The course explores the economic history at a global level, exploring developments in the western world as well as in Latin America, East and Southeast Asia, and Africa. Topics discussed will include fundamental transformations in economic experience, such as income and inequality, environmental change and the rise of population; sources of progress, such as technology, science, fiscal development; and explanations for divergent outcomes, for example human capital, economic policy, and management.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the LT. 1 hour of lectures and 1 hour of seminars in the ST.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 40 hours across Michaelmas Term and Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of virtual classes and flipped-lectures delivered as short online videos.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Michaelmas Term and Week 6 of Lent Term.

Formative coursework

Students are expected to write three essays or equivalent pieces of work.

Indicative reading

Broadberry, S. and O’Rourke, K.H. (eds.) (2010), The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe; Acemoglu, D., and Robinson, J.A. (2006), Economic origins of dictatorship and democracy; Livi-Bacci, M. (2001), A Concise History of World Population; Broadberry, S.N. (1998), “How did the United States and Germany Overtake Britain? A Sectoral Analysis of Comparative Productivity Levels, 1870-1990”, Journal of Economic History; Hatton, T. and J. Williamson (1998), The Age of Mass Migration; Eichengreen, B. (1996), Globalizing Capital; Accominotti, O., and Flandreau, M. (2008), “Bilateral Treaties and the Most-Favored Nation Clause. The Myth of Trade Liberalization in the Nineteenth Century”, World Politics; O’Rourke, K. and Williamson, J. (1999), Globalization and History; Harrison, M. (1988), “Resource Mobilization for the Second World War in the USA, UK, USSR, and Germany, 1938-45”, Economic History Review; Eichengreen, B. and Hatton, T.J. (eds.), Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective; Eichengreen, B., and Sachs, J. (1985), “Exchange Rates and Economic Recovery in the 1930s”, Journal of Economic History; Taylor, A.M. (1998), “On the Costs of Inward-Looking Development: Price Distortions, Growth, and Divergence in Latin America”, Journal of Economic History.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the summer exam period.

Key facts

Department: Economic History

Total students 2019/20: 50

Average class size 2019/20: 12

Controlled access 2019/20: Yes

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

Important information in response to COVID-19

Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.