Berlin: European Summer School in Economic History, Humboldt University

[administrator]

European Summer School in Economic History

Humboldt University, Berlin, 1-5 September 2014

Catching up or falling behind? Institutions, geography and economic development of Eastern Europe in the long-run

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Comparative economic development is a dominant topic on the global research agenda and economic history has made important contributions to the debate over the drivers of long-run growth. Why some countries or regions are rich while others are poor is a question that has inspired both economists and historians for a long time. Institutions, geography and resource endowments have all been attributed important roles in the literature explaining diverging trends in the global economy over the last two centuries.

Eastern Europe was heavily affected by the grand transformations of modern history. Old empires had fallen and new ones emerged, and in the twentieth century independent nation states were formed. Not only were the borders in Europe’s eastern periphery redrawn multiple times; formal institutions, the modes and structures of production have been transformed dramatically. Yet, Eastern European economists paid little attention to long-run development, and thus New Economic History that applies social science theory and quantitative analytical tools to studying the past could not make strong inroads into Eastern European scholarship.

The Summer School, sponsored by the European Historical Economics Society, Humboldt University and the London School of Economics, is dedicated to reversing this trend by bringing together young scholars from different parts of Europe whose research focuses on the economic history of Central, East and South-East Europe (CESEE) or on comparative development across different European regions. The Summer School will be interdisciplinary, drawing on recent advances in economics, economic history, and history, and thus welcomes applicants from all social sciences working on historical aspects of economic change. We mainly invite doctoral students, but applications from master students at an advanced stage of their research and scholars who recently completed their doctorate will also be considered. We offer a full-week intensive training programme. Lectures and seminars in the mornings will focus on general themes and methods, held by established scholars of CESEE economic history who have published in leading international academic journals. Workshop sessions in the afternoons will give students the opportunity to present and discuss their work.

Those wishing to participate are invited to submit a maximum 1,000 word summary of their proposed research that specifies the object and context of their investigation, the analytical approach they wish to follow and any preliminary findings they have established already. We also require a one-page curriculum vitae, listing educational qualifications, grants and prizes, as well as any academic publications and international conference attendance, if applicable.

Please email your applications to Dr Tamás Vonyó (LSE) at t.vonyo@lse.ac.uk no later than Friday, 30th of May 2014. Selected participants will be informed in early June. All costs of participation, including travel, accommodation, and catering during the school sessions, will be covered by the organisers. Further details about exact arrangements will be communicated to selected participants, who will be asked to submit the working paper or detailed research proposal they wish to present at the Summer School by Friday, 1st of August 2014.