Introducción a la historia económica

Este documento de trabajo introduce y presenta la historia económica como una asignatura global y de largo plazo. Uno de los principales objetivos de la historia económica como disciplina académica es el estudio comparativo del desarrollo económico y social. En este sentido, el bienestar económico en algunas regiones (Norteamérica, Australia, Nueva Zelanda, Europa o Japón) es considerablemente mayor que en otras (Oriente Medio, India, China, África sub-Sahariana, Pacífico). Entonces, ¿qué explica esta divergencia en bienestar? Hasta bien entrado el siglo XVII no se observan grandes diferencias en el bienestar económico de Eurasia. Sin embargo, hoy nos preocupamos por la desaceleración económica occidental mientras somos testigos de un crecimiento económico rápido en Asia, ¿por qué? ¿qué determinó la posición inicial de cada economía. Con este breve documento pretendemos iniciar al estudiante en la disciplina de la historia económica y motivar el estudio de esta asignatura para comprender mejor la actual economía mundial.Este documento está orientado a potenciales alumnos o personas interesadas en el estudio de la historia económica

Regional income inequality in France : what does history teach us?

This paper studies regional income inequality in France since mid-nineteenth century. Given the dominant role played by Île-de-France and the city of Paris, which inspired the publication of “Paris et le désert française” (Gravier, 1947) and a debate on regional development in the aftermath of World War II, France seems an ideal scenario to examine the dynamics of regional income. In doing so, we first document the existing evidence before and after the development of national accounting. Using different approaches, several studies have produced regional (département, NUTS3) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates from 1840 to 1930. Thus, our first contribution is to present these findings, assess the appropriateness of each methodology, and address potential concerns. The comparison of existing estimates for 1861-1930 raises some doubts about the pattern of regional inequality followed since 1861 to 1911. Hence we present new estimates for 1860-1930 based in the Geary and Stark (2002) method. In short, our estimates sum up new evidence in favour of an incessant decline in regional inequality since mid 19th up to 1930 and turn down the hypothesis of a potential U-shaped pattern in France since mid 19th century to nowadays. Additionally, we found that the use of nominal relative wages could overestimate the level or regional income inequality

Starting high school? On the origins of secondary education in Spain, 1857–1901

The development of modern educational systems radically altered the way knowledge and skills were transmitted. Yet, while elementary schooling rapidly expanded in late 19th and early twentieth centuries, secondary education struggled to fnd its way. This was also the case in Spain where, despite a growing demand, the provision of public secondary education during the second half of the 19th century was rather limited. As a result, private education, and especially that promoted by the Church, rushed to fll in the gap. Using a new database with municipal-level data, we examine what drove the expansion of private schools. As expected, demand-pull factors were critical. Still, the interplay between local forces and private agents should not be overlooked, especially as the State lacked the fnancial muscle and political will to broaden access to secondary education, whereas the Church was searching for a niche from which to consolidate its position in the nascent liberal society

Do universities matter for the location of foreign R&D?

This article explores the extent to which the regional higher education system (HES) influences the location of foreign research and development (R&D). To do so, we use a dataset with information on the location choices of new foreign R&D establishments within Spain from 2005 to 2013. Similarly, we use a multiple measure of the three university missions, distinguishing between research capacity training, scientific research, and technology transfer. We find that the probability of a foreign R&D establishment being located in a region is positively affected by the strength of the region’s HES missions, and more specifically by the quality of its scientific research, while its research training capacity and knowledge transfer activities do not seem to play a significant role. Moreover, the strength of the research mission has a positive influence on the location choice of foreign units conducting research activities but is weak to explain the location of those performing development activities

Why did Spanish Regions not Converge before the Civil War? Agglomeration Economies and (Regional) Growth Revisited

In this paper we explore the relationship between the presence of agglomeration economies and regional economic growth in Spain during the period 1870-1930. The study allows us to revisit the existence of a trade-off between economic growth and territorial cohesion, and also to examine whether the existence of agglomeration economies could explain the upswing in regional income inequality during the early stages of development. In doing so, we present alternative indicators for agglomeration economies and estimate conditional growth regressions at province (NUTS3) level. In line with new economic geography models, agglomeration economies in a context of market integration widened regional inequality in the second half of the 19th century and hindered its reduction during the early decades of the 20th.En este artículo se analiza la existencia de una relación entre la presencia de economías de aglomeración y el crecimiento económico regional en España durante el periodo 1870-1930. El estudio permite revisitar la existencia de un trade-off entre crecimiento económico y cohesión territorial y, además, examinar si las economías de aglomeración fueron un elemento clave a la hora de explicar el incremento de la desigualdad económica regional en España a lo largo de las primeras fases del desarrollo. Para ello, se presentan diferentes indicadores de aglomeración a nivel provincial (NUTS3) que posteriormente se incluyen en la estimación de regresiones de crecimiento condicionadas. En la línea de los modelos de Nueva Geografía Económica (NEG), sugerimos que la presencia de economías de aglomeración en un contexto de integración de mercado favoreció la aparición de una causación acumulativa que amplió la desigualdad regional en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y dificultó su reducción durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX.Authors acknowledge financial support from the MINECO project ECO2012-39169-CO3-02

TED-Ed: una herramienta online para fomentar el auto-aprendizaje

En aquest breu article plantegem la manera de fomentar l’autoaprenentage de l’alumne amb una eina  gratuïta i senzilla de manejar: les lliçons online a la plataforma educativa TED-Ed.In this short paper we deal with self-learning and the ways to spread it. We present a free easy-to-use tool: the on-line lessons by TED-EdEn este breve artículo planteamos cómo fomentar el auto-aprendizaje del alumno con una herramienta gratuita y sencilla de manejar: las lecciones on-line en la plataforma educativa TED-Ed

A Happy Marriage: Academia, Professional and Scientific Associations

[EN] This paper advocates for a greater integration between Higher Education and Professional and Scientific Associations (PSAs). With the development and adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the costs associated with the collection, storage, processing and transmission of information have been reduced. Eventually, the supply of information has boomed. However, more does not necessarily imply better. Free online resources can enhance the learning process, but the lack of quality controls is still a major concern. Additionally, learning demands some degree of organisation and structure. We argue that Higher Education can potentially benefit from a closer relationship with PSAs. In doing so, we introduce the Spanish Economic History Association efforts to organise and prepare high-quality teaching resources. Our brief discussion could provide a route-map for other PSAs.Díez Minguela, A.; Pons Brias, MÁ. (2015). A Happy Marriage: Academia, Professional and Scientific Associations. En 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION ADVANCES (HEAD' 15). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 394-400. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.407OCS39440

The origins of economic growth and regional income inequality in South-West Europe 1870-1950

This study focuses on South-West Europe, an area comprising France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, to evaluate inequality in regional income between 1870 and 1950. To do this, information on a decadal basis on regional population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 171 regions (84 French départements, 22 Italian regioni, 18 Portuguese distritos and 49 Spanish provincias) has been collected. Regional inequalities increased between 1870 and 1910 but subsequently tended to flatten out through until 1950. In the first period, regional disparities increased mainly driven by a handful of French and Spanish regions in northern France, such as the Paris basin, Catalonia, the Basque-Country and northern Italy. In the second period, inequality flattened out, driven by the incorporation of new regions on the path of modern economic growth. The study also shows the evolution towards a bimodal, polarized pattern of regional income distribution in 1910-1950 with two convergence clubs. The richest regions were clustering in northern France, the Paris basin and the north of Italy. Meanwhile, most of southern Italy and the vast majority of the Spanish and Portuguese regions already occupied the bottom positions in the income distribution ranking. This point to the emergence of the core-periphery pattern that characterizes much of South-West Europe today

A brief history of the Reconquista (718-1492 AD): Conquest, repopulation and land distribution

This article is an attempt to summarize in the space of barely twenty pages some of the characteristics of the historical process known as the Reconquista in the territories of today’s Spain. Since this was a process that spread across eight centuries, this brief history obviously is not and does not claim to be exhaustive. On the contrary, it goes without saying that it is partial, biased and incomplete, and should be considered simply as an introduction to the subject. It looks at the Reconquista from a territorial perspective with the intention of presenting some of the key elements that led to the creation of particular institutions. These varied from region to region and, it can be argued, had an impact on the long-term economic evolution of the various territories within Spain. On the one hand, the work focuses on the timing and evolution of the military conquest of territory, from north to south, in different historical stages, while on the other it looks at the subsequent repopulation of these conquered territories as the military action moved southwards. The institutions that were created and the way society was organized at each stage of the Reconquista, including the distribution of land ownership, depended on the different factors and circumstances prevailing in each historical period.Este trabajo es un intento de resumir en el espacio de apenas veinte páginas algunas características del proceso histórico conocido como Reconquista en el territorio que hoy ocupa España. Obviamente, tratándose de un proceso que se extendió a lo largo de ocho siglos, esta breve historia no es, ni pretende serlo, exhaustiva. Al contrario, es parcial, sesgada e incompleta, como no puede ser de otra manera, y tiene un carácter meramente introductorio. El texto se aproxima a la Reconquista desde una perspectiva territorial con objeto de presentar algunas claves para la creación de determinadas instituciones, regionalmente diferenciadas, que habrían persistido en el tiempo y tenido un impacto sobre la evolución económica de largo plazo. En particular, el trabajo se centra, por un lado, en presentar la evolución de la conquista militar de los territorios, de norte a sur, en diferentes etapas históricas. Y por otro, en ofrecer las principales claves de la posterior repoblación de los territorios conquistados a medida que se avanzaba hacia el sur. Las instituciones que se crearon y la manera en la que se organizó la sociedad en cada etapa de la Reconquista, incluida la distribución de la propiedad de la tierra, dependió de los diferentes factores y circunstancias que prevalecieron en cada período histórico