EH426A Half Unit
Quantitative Analysis in Economic History II
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Melanie Xue
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Economic History, MSc in Economic History (Research), MSc in Financial History, MSc in Global Economic History 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. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: All Economic History courses are controlled access and capped. Priority will be given to students for whom the course is within their programme regulations.
All course choices submitted before the deadline will be considered. It is advisable that students submit a statement in support of their course choices as these will be used to allocate places where a course is oversubscribed.
Deadline for application: First round offers will be sent on Monday 29 September 2025. Students who submit their course choices after the deadline and students wishing to take an Economic History course as an outside option will be waitlisted initially and informed by Wednesday 1 October 2025 whether they have been successful.
Once an offer has been sent, you have 48 hours to accept it before it times out. Once an offer has timed out, it will be re-allocated to someone on the waitlist. In all cases, it is strongly advised that you have an alternative course choice as a back-up in case you are unable to secure your first choice.
For queries contact: If you have any questions, please contact the MSc Programmes Officer (o.harrison1@lse.ac.uk) A list of all taught master's courses in this Department are listed on LSE's course guide webpages. Guidance on how to apply to individual controlled access courses can also be found on LSE for You.
This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access). In previous years we have been able to provide places for all students that apply, but that may not continue to be the case.
Requisites
Mutually exclusive courses:
This course cannot be taken with EH426W at any time on the same degree programme.
Additional requisites:
Students enrolled for this course are expected to have completed at least introductory undergraduate courses in statistics and/or econometrics and economic theory. The course will begin with a revision of the main quantitative approaches but will not provide a comprehensive training in econometric methods or computer applications.
Course content
The course will provide an overview of quantitative approaches in economic history mainly using cross-section and panel data. The course will examine the use of quantitative techniques through an examination of their application in recent literature. Techniques discussed will include propensity score matching, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity design, difference-in-differences analysis and spatial econometric models. The course is organised on a topic basis, with subjects chosen to illustrate particular theoretical, quantitative and methodological issues.
Teaching
20 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.
This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 20 hours across Autumn Term. This year, while we are planning for most classes and seminars to be delivered in-person, it is possible that some or all of this teaching may have to be delivered virtually. Lectures will either be recorded or given in the form of live webinars.
Formative assessment
Students are expected to write one essay or equivalent pieces of written work.
Indicative reading
There is no mandatory textbook for this course, but the brief overview of quantitative methods during the first four weeks will follow:
- Wooldridge, J.M. (2009), Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, International Student Edition.
Useful background readings include:
- J.L. Van Zanden, The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution: The European Economy in a Global Perspective, 1000-1800 (Leiden, 2009);
- K.H. O'Rourke and J.G. Williamson, Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy (Cambridge MA, 1998);
- C. Goldin and L.F. Katz, The race between education and technology (Cambridge, MA, 2008);
- D. Greasley and L. Oxley (eds.), Economics and History: Surveys in Cliometrics (Oxford, 2011).6).
Assessment
Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Key facts
Department: Economic History
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 17
Average class size 2024/25: 17
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills
- Specialist skills