Revista de Historia Económica

Revista de Historia Económica
Title	Revista de Historia Económica
Discipline	Economic history
Language	Spanish, English
Publisher	Asociación de Historia Económica
Country	Spain
History	1983–present
Frequency	Biannual
Issn	0210-0010

Revista de Historia Económica is a peer-reviewed academic journal published in Spain that focuses on historical studies of economic activity, institutions, and policy across temporal and geographic settings. Founded in the early 1980s, it has hosted research connecting Iberian, European, Latin American, and global historical phenomena and has engaged scholars from universities, archives, and research centers. The journal regularly features comparative studies, quantitative analyses, and archival discoveries that intersect with major personalities, institutions, and events in modern and early modern history.

History

The journal was established in 1983 amid scholarly debates linked to the legacies of Francisco Franco, the transition to democracy represented by the Spanish transition to democracy, and renewed research interests stimulated by institutions such as the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and the Universidad de Barcelona. Early contributors engaged with archives connected to the Archivo General de Indias, the Archivo Histórico Nacional, and collections used by historians of Felipe II, Isabella I of Castile, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Subsequent editorial boards included scholars associated with the European Historical Economics Society, the International Economic History Association, and research projects funded by the European Research Council that linked Spanish scholarship to work on Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. Over time the journal published work on the economic dimensions of the Spanish Empire, the Peninsular War, the Bourbon Reforms, and the Spanish Civil War, while fostering dialogues with scholarship on Great Britain, France, Portugal, Latin America, and the United States.

Scope and Focus

The journal emphasizes empirical and comparative studies that illuminate processes such as commercialization, industrialization, demographic change, and monetary regimes within contexts tied to institutions like the Bank of Spain, the Royal Treasury of Spain, the House of Habsburg, and the House of Bourbon. It routinely features articles on maritime trade routes linking the Casa de Contratación, the Port of Seville, the Port of Cádiz, and the Manila Galleons as well as studies of agricultural change in regions such as Andalusia, Catalonia, Castile and León, and Galicia. The scope includes investigations of labor markets involving actors researched by historians of Antonio Gramsci, Emilio Botín, and industrialists tied to the Industrial Revolution in contexts like Catalan textile industry and the Basque shipbuilding sector. Comparative pieces connect Spanish cases to episodes such as the Glorious Revolution, the French Revolution, the Latin American wars of independence, and the Great Depression.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

Editorial governance has involved university presses and scholarly associations including the Asociación de Historia Económica, with editorial offices historically hosted at institutions like the Universidad de Alcalá, the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and the Universidad de Granada. Boards have included specialists who have published on figures such as Buenaventura de Abarzuza, María Elena Martínez, and comparative scholars working on Owen Chadwick and Fernand Braudel. The peer-review process employs external referees drawn from faculties at the London School of Economics, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and the Universidade de São Paulo, ensuring methodological scrutiny of archival work, cliometric analyses inspired by Robert Fogel and Douglass North, and interdisciplinary contributions that dialogue with scholarship on Max Weber and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Publication and Access

The journal appears on a regular biannual schedule with occasional special issues and supplements coordinated with conferences hosted by organizations such as the European Historical Economics Society and the International Economic History Association. Distribution channels have included university libraries like those of the Biblioteca Nacional de España and consortia that index periodicals alongside titles from the Cambridge University Press, the Oxford University Press, and Spain-based academic publishers. Articles are published in Spanish and English and have been cited by works appearing in outlets such as The Economic History Review, Journal of Economic History, Hispania Nova, and edited volumes from the Cambridge Histories series; libraries and research projects at the World Bank, the United Nations University, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have used its scholarship.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Noteworthy contributions have examined topics like fiscal crises under the Habsburg Monarchy, tariff policy in the reign of Isabella II of Spain, demographic transitions in connection with research by scholars inspired by Thomas Malthus and Ester Boserup, and industrialization processes comparable to those analyzed in studies of Manchester and Lyon. Special issues have focused on themes including the economic legacies of the Atlantic World, comparative studies of industrialization across Iberia and Northern Europe, and transatlantic monetary histories engaging cases from the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Viceroyalty of Peru. Guest editors have included established historians who have worked on subjects such as the Bourbon Reforms, the Enlightenment in Spain, and migration flows related to the Spanish diaspora and the Great Migrations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Impact and Reception

The journal is recognized in historiographical debates alongside outlets like The Economic History Review, Journal of Economic History, Explorations in Economic History, and Hispanic American Historical Review for shaping conversations on Spanish and global economic history. Its articles have been cited in monographs on the Spanish Empire, comparative works on industrialization drawing on cases from Germany and Italy, and policy histories used by institutions such as the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund. Reception among historians highlights its role in integrating archival discoveries from the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón and the Archivo General de la Administración with quantitative research influenced by cliometrics and long-duration analysis associated with the Annales School.

Category:Academic journals Category:Historiography of Spain Category:Economic history journals