Journal of Economic History

Journal of Economic History
Title	Journal of Economic History
Discipline	Economic history
Abbreviation	J. Econ. Hist.
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Country	United States
History	1941–present
Frequency	Quarterly
Issn	0022-0507

Journal of Economic History is a leading peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1941 that publishes research on historical dimensions of economic processes and institutional change. The journal is associated with the Economic History Association and has featured work by scholars connected to Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Cambridge, and London School of Economics. It has been cited alongside studies from the National Bureau of Economic Research, Princeton University, Stanford University, Oxford University, and University of California, Berkeley.

History and Overview

The journal was established in the context of interwar and wartime debates involving figures linked to Columbia University, University of Michigan, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University, and early editors drew on networks involving the Social Science Research Council, Carnegie Corporation, Rockefeller Foundation, and American Historical Association. Its editorial evolution paralleled methodological shifts evident in publications associated with Cliometrics, Annales School, Quantitative History, and New Economic History movements, with contributors from University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Duke University, and Cornell University. Over decades it published articles that intersected with research at institutions such as the Hoover Institution, Institute for Advanced Study, Russell Sage Foundation, Economic Research Service, and International Labour Organization.

Scope and Academic Focus

The journal covers historical studies on industrialization, agricultural change, labor markets, financial institutions, trade, demography, and technological innovation, drawing on work by historians and economists at Yale University, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of Toronto, University of Sydney, University of Tokyo, and Humboldt University. Typical topics link to episodes such as the Industrial Revolution, Great Depression, Gold Standard, Bretton Woods Conference, Meiji Restoration, and Reconstruction Era and engage archives associated with British Library, National Archives (UK), National Archives and Records Administration, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Bundesarchiv. Methods include cliometrics popularized at University of Rochester, econometric techniques linked to Cowles Commission, counterfactual analysis built on work at RAND Corporation, and comparative frameworks used by scholars at University of California, Los Angeles and University of Chicago.

Editorial Board and Publication Process

The journal’s editorial board historically includes editors and associate editors affiliated with Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Brown University, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Wisconsin–Madison; it also consults an advisory panel drawn from Princeton University, Stanford University, McGill University, University of Edinburgh, University of Warwick, University of Glasgow, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Manuscripts undergo peer review by referees from institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, London School of Economics, University of Barcelona, University of Bonn, University of Chicago, University of Melbourne, and National University of Singapore; the process follows timelines similar to those at Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley-Blackwell. The journal issues calls for papers and special issues often coordinated with meetings of the Economic History Association, American Historical Association, Royal Economic Society, Social Science History Association, and International Economic History Association.

Impact and Reception

Articles published in the journal have influenced debates that involve citations across National Bureau of Economic Research working papers, American Economic Association publications, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Explorations in Economic History, and European Review of Economic History, with recognition from prizes awarded by the Cliometric Society, Economic History Association, and British Academy. The journal’s impact factor and citation metrics are tracked in databases used by scholars at UCLA, University of Illinois, Ohio State University, University of Toronto, and University of Chicago, and its readership includes faculty from Princeton University, Yale University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and London School of Economics. Reviews and reception have appeared in outlets connected to Cambridge University Press, MIT Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Palgrave Macmillan.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Noteworthy contributions include seminal cliometric essays that engaged with datasets from the 19th-century United States related to the Panic of 1873, studies on the Banking Act of 1933 and Glass-Steagall legislation, research on the Navigation Acts and Mercantilist policies, analyses of the Southern Reconstruction Era, examinations of the Meiji Restoration’s industrial policy, and comparative studies on the Great Leap Forward, Nazi economic mobilization, and Soviet Five-Year Plans. Influential authors whose work appeared in the journal have been associated with Harvard University, University of Chicago, Yale University, Columbia University, London School of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, and Stanford University, and their findings intersect with archival sources from the British East India Company records, Ottoman Archives, Vatican Secret Archives, and U.S. Treasury records.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in services and databases widely used by researchers at institutions such as JSTOR, Scopus, Web of Science, EconLit (American Economic Association), Social Sciences Citation Index, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, Historical Abstracts, Cabell’s Directories, and Google Scholar. Library holdings include collections at the Library of Congress, Harvard Library, Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, and British Library, and the journal is cataloged in union catalogs used by the Research Libraries Group, OCLC, and WorldCat.

Category:Academic journals