Explorations in Economic History

Explorations in Economic History
Title	Explorations in Economic History
Discipline	Economic history
Abbreviation	Explor. Econ. Hist.
Publisher	Elsevier
Country	Netherlands
History	1949–present
Frequency	Quarterly
Issn	0014-4983

Explorations in Economic History is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on the historical analysis of economic processes, institutions, and outcomes. Founded in the mid-20th century, the journal has published research by leading figures from Harvard University, University of Chicago, London School of Economics, University of Oxford, and Yale University, and has shaped debates involving scholars associated with NBER, CEPR, Cambridge University Press, MIT Press, and Routledge. Its pages have featured empirical studies addressing episodes linked to the Industrial Revolution, Great Depression, World War I, World War II, Cold War, and decolonization in India, China, Brazil, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Introduction

The journal emerged amid postwar interest in reconstructing economic trajectories after World War II and amid methodological shifts influenced by researchers from Harvard, University of Chicago, Princeton University, Columbia University, and Stanford University. Early contributors included scholars associated with the Cliometric Revolution, proponents from University of Rochester and Washington University in St. Louis, and institutionalists connected to Yale. Over decades the publication has bridged work on episodes such as the Great Depression, the Black Death, the American Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, and the Meiji Restoration.

Methodologies and Sources

Articles in the journal employ primary sources from archives at institutions like the British Library, National Archives (UK), Library of Congress, Imperial War Museum, and national archives of France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Japan. Contributors draw on corporate records from firms such as East India Company, Hudson's Bay Company, Standard Oil, De Beers, and U.S. Steel; fiscal registers from the Dutch East India Company; and census materials from United Kingdom Census and United States Census. Quantitative datasets derive from compilations by Angus Maddison, Simon Kuznets, Robert Fogel, and projects affiliated with NBER and IPUMS.

Major Themes and Periods

Recurring themes include industrialization studies centered on the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and diffusion to Germany, United States, Japan, and France; labor history tied to events like the Cotton Famine and the Haymarket Affair; monetary history involving the Gold Standard, the Bretton Woods Conference, and the Bank of England; trade history from the Navigation Acts to Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act; and agricultural transitions exemplified by the Enclosure Acts and the Green Revolution. The journal has covered long-run growth debates prompted by works of Adam Smith interpreters, critiques by Karl Marx scholars, and modern analyses influenced by Douglass North, Daron Acemoglu, Angus Maddison, Jan de Vries, and Robert Allen.

Case Studies and Regional Studies

Published case studies examine the economic trajectories of regions such as Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Ottoman Empire, Mughal Empire, Qing dynasty, Meiji Japan, United States, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. Notable regional articles have focused on the Dutch Golden Age and the Tulip Mania, industrial clusters in Lancashire, railroad expansion involving the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, rice economies of Vietnam, coffee production in Brazil, and mining booms in California Gold Rush and Witwatersrand. Institutional analyses consider legal frameworks influenced by the Magna Carta, Code Napoléon, and colonial-era ordinances from British Raj and French Indochina.

Quantitative Approaches and Cliometrics

The journal has been a forum for cliometric work employing statistical techniques developed by scholars at University of Chicago, Rutgers University, and University of California, Berkeley. Studies use methods such as counterfactual analysis inspired by Robert Fogel and time-series analysis related to the work of C. Northcote Parkinson critics and econometricians from Econometric Society circles. Datasets from IPUMS, Maddison Project, and Penn World Table are commonly used alongside microdata from estates and probate records compiled by researchers affiliated with Yale and Oxford. Debates over measurement—GDP reconstructions, price indices, and real wages—feature contributions from Simon Kuznets, H.W. Arndt, and contemporary scholars connected to Cambridge Econometrics.

Debates and Interpretations

Contested interpretations published in the journal address questions such as the timing and causes of the Industrial Revolution (skills and institutions emphasized by Deirdre McCloskey and Joel Mokyr versus capital and resources emphasized by Robert Allen), the role of slavery and coercion explored by scholars of Transatlantic Slave Trade and American South economic history, and the impact of imperial networks debated by historians of the British Empire and Dutch Empire. Other debates consider the efficacy of policy responses during the Great Depression (comparisons involving New Deal programs and Keynesian prescriptions), and the long-term effects of colonial land tenure systems examined by researchers studying Latin America and Africa.

Legacy and Influence on Modern Economics

The journal's influence reaches contemporary research at institutions such as NBER, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, and Bank of England where historical perspectives inform policy modeling. Its articles have shaped curricula at Harvard, Princeton, LSE, and Cambridge University and influenced prize-winning work associated with the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureates who engaged with historical evidence, including Douglass North and Robert Fogel. The journal remains central for scholars linking archival discoveries from institutions like the Wellcome Trust and the British Museum with quantitative frameworks developed by members of the Econometric Society and editorial networks across Elsevier, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press.

Category:Economic history journals