World Economic History
Code: 104508 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503778 International Relations | FB | 1 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Nuria Mallorqui Ruscalleda
- Email:
- Nuria.Mallorqui@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- english (eng)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Anna Sole del Barrio
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for taking the course successfully. Nonetheless it would be desirable if students were familiar with basic knowledge of Global Contemporary History, Economics and Geography.
Objectives and Contextualisation
World Economic History is part of the group of basic subjects in the first year. The objective of these subjects is to acquire the knowledge, analytical tools and basic methodology in order to develop the general and specific competencies of the degree programme. This course covers the development of the international economy since pre-industrial times up to present days. It appraises the different phases of modern economic growth, the impact of major historical facts on the economy, as well as the transformation of global economic institutions.
Regarding the thematic content of the program, the objective of the course is that the students acquire enough knowledge in order to:
- Determine the fundamental explanatory variables of a historic process or event.
- Evaluate the economic, political and social consequences of a historic process or event related to economy.
And more precisely:
- Identify and explain the main determinants and causes which have facilitated periods of economic growth, economic stability, recession and crisis, both in a national and international perspective.
- Identify and explain the factors which have determined thedevelopment of the process of economic globalization.
- Analyze the causes and consequences of the economic, social, and regional disparities generated by the capitalist economic development.
- Typify the main stages of the technological change and identify its impact in the economic progress.
- Evaluate and compare the sustainability of the economic development models, the historical and the recent ones, and theirs future feasibility
In the context of its competences, the course of World Economic History aims to promote the following abilities among the students:
- Be able to elaborate an organized speech in a social science style
- Improve the English oral and written comprehension
- Work independently and be able tomanage time properly
- Develop team work ability
- Use a critical vision to research information from different sources: especially libraries and on the Internet.
Finally, the objective of the course of World Economic History is for the students to acquire a sort of beneficial and profitable attitudes for their future academic and professional development. Among those attitudes, the highlighted ones are:
- Be able to be sensitive in relation to the economic problems, the policies applied, and their social and environmental consequences.
- Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations, and try to understand the reasons behind each opinion and approach.
Competences
- Analyse international society and its structure and understand its importance for real-life problems and professional practice.
- Analyse the structure and operation of international institutions and organisations (political, economic, military and security, environmental, development and emergency aid) both in the universal and regional spheres, with particular emphasis on the European Union, from either real or simulated cases.
- Apply knowledge of the structure and operation of international institutions to problems and/or practical cases, either real or simulated.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Identify the main theories of international relations and their different fields (international theory, conflicts and security, international politics, etc.) to apply them in professional practice.
- Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Use English to receive and communicate analyses and proposals.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse and explain the functioning of the economy and international trade in the contemporary system.
- Analyse the operation of the main universal and regional institutions that intervene in international finance and trade.
- Critically evaluate the dynamics created in the interaction between the state and the market.
- Describe the dynamics of economic systems, their limits and potential and their political consequences.
- Explain the theoretical models of economics taking into account different historical studies.
- Identify data sources and carry out rigorous bibliographical and documentary searches.
- Identify the problems faced by economic agents when making decisions in conditions of uncertainty, using different historical experiences.
- Identify the processes of economic integration in the world.
- Make a historical analysis of current economic problems to better assess the evolutionary possibilities of economic systems.
- Produce and prepare the presentation of intervention reports and/or proposals.
- Relate basic questions of contemporary economics with previous economic developments starting from the main elements in contemporary economic history.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Use English to receive and communicate analyses and proposals.
- Use analytical tools for economics and international trade and apply them to different processes and case studies.
- Use metatheoretical data to argue and establish plausible relation of causality and establish ways of validating or rejecting them.
Content
2.1 Transport and Communications Revolution
2.2 Regional and International Migrations
2.3 International Trade and Finance
2.4 The International Monetary System: the Gold Standard
2.5 The Great Divergence in Economic Development
Methodology
Teaching will be offered on campus or in an on-campus and remote hybrid format depending on the number of students per group and the size of the rooms at 50% capacity
The course will be structured as follows:
1. Lectures
The professor will develop an analytical conceptualisation and a synthesis for every topic in the programme. The aim is to facilitate the transmission of knowledge and to motivate the student in historical analysis.
2. Tutorials
The aim of tutorials is to help students to achieve the specific knowledge of the subject and acquire transferable skills. There will be questions set for each topic and it is expected that students will work on them before class with the help of the lectures and reading material.
3. Studying from lectures and readings
The work done in class has to be complemented by the student individually or in group work. The student should gain independence in the learning process and in the process attain the analytical tools to develop the critical thinking. This work should amount to hundred hours in addition to lectures and tutorials.
4. Office hours
Students can use the professor's office hours to solve specific questions. Office hours will be announced in the intranet, Campus virtual.
5. Campus Virtual
Campus Virtual is a useful tool to help students to get easy information about the logistics of the course and the basic materials that the professor considers essential for learning.
Please note that the proposed teaching methodology may undergo some modifications according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 33 | 1.32 | 2, 9, 1, 17, 4, 5, 7, 8, 6, 11, 16, 15, 3 |
| Tutorials | 12 | 0.48 | 17, 10, 6, 13, 12, 15 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Supervised activities | 10.5 | 0.42 | 17, 10, 6, 14, 13, 12 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Practical work | 31.5 | 1.26 | 17, 10, 6, 13, 12, 16, 15 |
| Reading and independent study | 60 | 2.4 | 17, 10, 6, 14, 12, 16, 15 |
Assessment
The assessment of the course will be based on three modalities:
- Classroom participation (worth 10% of the course mark).
- Participation in the practice exercise sessions in the classroom (worth 20% of the course mark).
- Two midterm exams. Each one of them will be worth 35% of the course mark. They will consist on 20 multiple choice questions marking 0,5 if the answer is correct, -0,125 if the answer is incorrect, and 0 if there is no response (50% of the midterm exam mark) and two essay questions (50% of the midterm exam mark).
Exam questions will be based on lectures (theory and practice exercise sessions) and all teaching material that the professor indicates.
Calendar of evaluation activities
The dates of the evaluation activities (midterm exams, exercises in the classroom, assignments, ...) will be announced well in advance during the semester.
The date of the final exam is scheduled in the assessment calendar of the Faculty.
"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified, unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staffand the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity." Section 1 of Article 115. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB). Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph need to change an evaluation activity date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedule https://eformularis.uab.cat/group/deganat_feie/application-for-exams-reschedule
Grade revision process
After all grading activities have ended, students will be informed of the date and way in which the course grades will be published. Students will be also be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of grade revision following University regulations.
Retake Process
"To be eligible to participate in the retake process, it is required for students to have been previously been evaluated for at least two thirds of the total evaluation activities of the subject." Section 3 of Article 112 ter. The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations). Additionally, it is required that the student to have achieved an average grade of the subject between 3.5 and 4.9.
The retake exam will be based on four essay questions marking 2,5 each.
The date of the retake exam will be posted in the calendar of evaluation activities of the Faculty. Students who take this exam and pass, will get a grade of 5 for the subject. If the student does not pass the retake, the grade will remain unchanged, and hence, student will fail the course.
Irregularities in evaluation activities
In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, "in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in the evaluation of the same subject, the final grade of this subject will be 0". Section 10 of Article 116. Results of the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).
Students will be awarded a mark of ¨No avaluable¨ (not assessed) as long as they have not submited work nor sat exams worth more than one-third of the total course mark.
Please note that the proposed evaluation activities may undergo somechanges according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities onon-campuscourses
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classroom activities | 30% of the final mark | 0 | 0 | 18, 2, 9, 1, 17, 4, 10, 5, 7, 8, 6, 14, 13, 12, 11, 16, 15, 3 |
| Two exercises, with activities of theoretical and empirical topics | 35% and 35% each | 3 | 0.12 | 18, 2, 9, 1, 17, 4, 10, 5, 7, 8, 6, 14, 13, 12, 11, 16, 15, 3 |
Bibliography
Aldcroft, Derek, The European Economy, 1914-1990. London (1993): Routledge.
Broadberry, Stephen & Kevin O’Rourke, (eds.): The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe. Cambridge (2010):Cambridge University Press.
Cameron, Rondo E., A Concise economic history of the world : from Paleolithic times to the present), Oxford University Press, New York, 2003.
Di Vittorio, Antonio (ed.): An Economic History of Europe. London (2006): Routledge.
Eichengreen, B. Globalizing capital : a history of the international monetary system, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1996.
F. Comín, Historia Económica Mundial. De los orígenes a la actualizad, ed. Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 2011.
F. Comín, M. Hernández, E. Llopis (eds.), Historia Económica Mundial, siglos XIX-XX, Barcelona, 2005.
Feinstein, C.; P. Temin & G. Toniolo: The World Economy Between the World Wars. Oxford (2008): Oxford University Press.
G. Feliu- C. Sudrià, Introducció a la història econòmica mundial, ed. Publicacions de la Universitat de València, València, 2013.
Livi Bacci, Massimo: A Concise history of world population. Malden (2001): Blackwell.
O’Rourke, Kevin & Williamson, Jeffrey G.: Globalization and history : the evolution of a nineteenth-century Atlantic economy. Cambridge (1999): The MIT Press.
Persson, Karl Gunnar: An Economic History of Europe. Cambridge (2010): Cambridge University Press.
Temin, Peter: Lessons from the Great Depression. Cambridge (1989): The MIT Press.
V. Zamagni, Una historia económica. Europa de la Edad Media a la crisis del euro, ed. Crítica, Barcelona, 2016.