Working Paper: NBER ID: w28786
Authors: Alberto Bisin; Giovanni Federico
Abstract: The relationship between history and economics as academic disciplines is methodologically subtle and sociologically contested. If the Cliometric revolution can be characterized as an acquisition of economics by history, the most recent trends in Historical Economics appear to turn this relationship on its head. In this Introduction we read the chapters of the Handbook as a forceful argument in favor of a merger between the two disciplines rather than the acquisition of one by the other; a merger which combines, notably, the detailed knowledge of historical sources, the capability of distilling complex historical processes into a model, and the statistical/econometric skills for identification and estimation.
Keywords: historical economics; cliometrics; causal analysis; econometrics; economic history
JEL Codes: B40; N00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| historical treatments (B15) | present-day conditions (E66) |
| historical analysis (B15) | economic principles (D46) |
| advanced econometric methods (C51) | identification of causal relationships (C22) |
| cliometric revolution (N01) | acquisition of economics by history (N00) |
| modern economists (B22) | interest in historical questions (N30) |
| historical events (N94) | contemporary economic outcomes (P17) |
| colonial institutions (F54) | GDP per capita (O49) |