Der Kurs wird in englischer Sprache angeboten. Die Kursinformationen werden daher nur auf englisch angezeigt.

Students are able to actively participate in an informed way in discussions about the effects of economic history in different areas. They distinguish relevant technical terms and concepts. They expand their knowledge in topics such as history of economic thought and development economics and transfer their basic knowledge of the first semesters to further fields of application. In doing so, they link the competences they have acquired so far.

This course aims to consider the underlying causes and consequences of different social mobility regimes throughout world history from an interdisciplinary perspective. We first introduce three recurring themes: inequality and social mobility, education as an engine of social mobility, and justice. The first two themes are critical to understanding how differences in social mobility arise across societies, while 'justice' introduces a framework for thinking about how social mobility is experienced. Is high inequality accompanied by high social mobility? Are societies with greater social mobility more meritocratic? Are they more efficient?
In the next week, we consider these questions from a Becker-Tomes perspective in which social mobility is driven by investments in human capital. We discuss the main predictions of the model, including the implications of credit constraints. This is paired with a methodological exercise on the measurement of intergenerational income elasticity.
Next, we discuss the sociological theory of social mobility, introducing Max Weber's concept of 'life chances'. We draw contrasts and comparisons with the utility-maximizing approach of the previous week and discuss the concept of socio-economic class. This is paired with a methodological exercise on the transition-matrix methodology. The final theoretical lecture introduces the evidence on surname persistence from the economic history literature. We discuss how previously introduced theories would account for this evidence, and a methodological exercise considers the calculation of surname persistence and possible biases in the measure.
Remaining weeks consist of case studies of social mobility drawn from world history.