Why should we study economic history? This course argues that economic history is relevant for managers, decision-makers, and policy-makers for at least three reasons. First, events that happened in the past may harbor important lessons for the design of economic policy and thus the organization/allocation of resources in a firm, a country, a region or even from a global perspective (c.f. for example Sessions 2, 3, and 6 below). Second, often we observe that events in the past have long-lasting persistent effects that continue to play a large role today: a firm understanding of the channels behind this persistence is thus crucial to understand our current world (c.f. for example Sessions 1, 4, and 5 below). Third, economic history provides a huge arsenal of events and policies that researchers in business, management and economics can draw upon to test modern theory with regard to its empirical validity (this applies to some extent to all sessions below).

Date and time of the sessions can be found in the online syllabus. The most important material including the papers for the presentations can be found on Canvas. There will be several folders for students – one for uploading documents related to the lecture (notes, literature, additional material for essays) with sharing being a voluntary option – and one for uploading student presentations as PowerPoint/PDF. There is also a task tool to upload presentation notes and the final essay (see below). This course and all presentations will be in English.

There are three types of learning activities: first, in each session there is a lecture component – the topics covered in this part of the lecture will be the basis for the final essay that makes up for 40% of the final grade. Students are expected to read the papers listed under the point “Literature discussed in session” prior to each session. This is important for the second type of activity: group tasks, which will be a big part of each lecture component. In these tasks, students will be split into groups of max. three to do research on and discuss questions that arise related to each session’s topic. For an active participation, each group member has to speak up in the subsequent class discussions of the group task output. It is not enough that only one group member speaks for the entire group. As a third component, there will be student presentations in groups on different pre-determined topics, followed by discussion rounds. These will make up for 30% of the final grade. Students are expected to actively engage and participate in discussions. As a fourth component, each student has to write three short essays/summaries on the questions covered in presentations of their fellow students (not their own presentation).

Students can miss one session. Attendance in all other sessions is required.

Presentations
In sessions 2-6, there will be two presentations prepared and held in groups of 3-4 students. Each group is assigned an economic history question they present on. To prepare their presentation, two mandatory papers are to be used. The aim is to answer the question, on the one hand, and to explain the authors‘ approach, data, arguments, etc. on the other hand. Additional material can be used as long as a plausible scientific approach is applied and the assigned papers as well as their approach are properly covered. Presentations should be no longer than 25-30 minutes. The presentations (as PowerPoint or PDF) are to be uploaded at least 24h before on Canvas. The other students are also expected to read the presentation texts beforehand, to be able to participate in the discussion in an informed way. Presentation topics will be assigned in session 1. 

Short essays (Summary notes)
Each student is expected to write three short essays/summaries on the questions covered in presentations of their fellow students (not their own presentation). These should not be longer than one page or a maximum of 500 words. The idea is simple: concisely answer the respective question based on the presentation and underlying papers. The short essays should be written in whole sentences and follow a coherent structure. Very good short essays go beyond the papers/presentations and offer an informed, self-written conclusion or critically reflect on discussion arguments. The short essays are to be uploaded on Canvas until the session following the presentation of the chosen question. This question should be stated in the uploaded document. 

Final essays
Each student shall write a final essay on one of the main questions covered in the lecture part of sessions 2-7.  Maximum length for the final essays will be 3000 words – if an essay is longer than this, the excess text will not be read or graded (which is a disadvantage if it includes i.e., the conclusion). References are not part of the word count. The reason for this limit is to ensure an efficient answering of questions and structured arguments including the writer’s own findings. It is not enough (also in the sense of grading) to just sum up the literature. The associated papers, their key approach and findings are to be evaluated, prioritised, and related to one another. The final essay is to be uploaded on Canvas until 05/02/2026. The document has to include references with the literature used. Within the essay text, citations are to be made accordingly. The essays will also be checked for plagiarism. 

See above.

Please find the mandatory and additional literature for each session on Canvas in "Files".

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