Course objectives
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the economic approach to historical change, with a focus on institutional evolution. Students will be exposed to a wide array of economic tools, mostly developed to study of markets, to be applied to historical instances of market and non-market behavior.
Readings
- Lopez, R. S. (1976). The commercial revolution of the middle ages. Cambridge University Press.
- Lane, F. C. (1979). Profits from power. SUNY Press.
- North, D. C. (1981). Structure and change in economic history. Norton.
- Allen, D. W. (2011). The institutional revolution: Measurement and the economic emergence of the modern world. University of Chicago Press.