Broadstreet

Ottoman Governance and Development: The Role of Human Capital

Posted on June 20, 2022June 20, 2022 by Bogdan G. Popescu

The long-run effects of historical imperial rule on economic development are controversial. We contribute to this debate by considering the role of an experience that is relatively little understood – the Ottoman Empire in Europe. Our new article pursues two objectives: first, to estimate the effects of Ottoman exposure on long-run development by going beyond … Continue reading Ottoman Governance and Development: The Role of Human Capital

Did Tea Drinking Cut Mortality Rates in England?

Posted on June 13, 2022June 10, 2022 by Francisca Antman

Policymakers have recently devoted significant attention to elevating the importance of access to clean water as a critical step in advancing economic development, most recently including it as one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Although significant progress has been made on this front, the World Health Organization estimates that 1-in-3 people lack access … Continue reading Did Tea Drinking Cut Mortality Rates in England?

Does Surveillance Work?

Posted on June 3, 2022June 2, 2022 by Krzysztof Krakowski

In The Lives of Others, the Academy-Award winning film of 2006, two Stasi agents monitor a theatre performance. One, looking through his binoculars, seems relieved and notes that the playwright is “our only non-subversive writer.” The other agent replies “I’d have him monitored.” And thus, the drama unfolds. The playwright is bugged, strangers follow him … Continue reading Does Surveillance Work?

The Monks who Made Europe

Posted on May 20, 2022May 16, 2022 by Jørgen Møller

By Jonathan Doucette and Jørgen Møller For almost a thousand years, the Latin west (Western and Central Europe) has been fragmented in two ways: First, it has been divided into numerous competing political units; second, these units have themselves been internally divided, rulers co-existing and interacting with strong social groups such as the clergy, the … Continue reading The Monks who Made Europe

Guess Who’s Back; PAP Again

Posted on May 4, 2022May 4, 2022 by Alexandra Cirone

Awhile ago, I wrote a Broadstreet post on the use of PAPs with HPE. Since then, I’ve thought a bit more about this, as part of a chapter I’m working on for my book on historical data. Preregistration is a foundation of experimental work, but is also being suggested for observational and qualitative research as … Continue reading Guess Who’s Back; PAP Again

State Capacity in Historical Political Economy: What, How, Why, and Why Not?

Posted on May 2, 2022May 1, 2022 by Mark Dincecco

By Mark Dincecco and Yuhua Wang Several recent Broadstreet posts have been about state capacity, including conceptualizations, historical roots, and effects. In light of this, we think that it might be helpful to briefly take stock of what the historical political economy literature has to say in response to the following four questions: 1) What … Continue reading State Capacity in Historical Political Economy: What, How, Why, and Why Not?

What I Learned from Working with Deceased Soviet Historians

Posted on April 27, 2022April 27, 2022 by Scott Gehlbach

Broadstreet readers may know that Jeff and Jared are editing an Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy. Tracy and I have committed to writing a chapter on “HPE in History and the Social Sciences” that elaborates on various earlier contributions on the relationship between these two component parts of the field. A particular focus is … Continue reading What I Learned from Working with Deceased Soviet Historians

Property Rights, Serfdom, and Institutional Divergence

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Tracy Dennison

Do institutions matter? Those who study them are sure they do. But others remain skeptical. When I was a graduate student, I remember having a conversation with a colleague working on early modern England. This colleague said: “The significance of institutions is more apparent to you, working on Russia, because institutional obstacles are so present … Continue reading Property Rights, Serfdom, and Institutional Divergence

Can We Solve Noisy Historical Data with Old Newspapers?

Posted on April 20, 2022April 19, 2022 by James Feigenbaum

A new method from Ferrara, Yeob, and Walsh turns keyword frequencies in historical newspapers into new geographically-varied measures of treatment that can help us thwart attenuation bias.

Explaining Assimilation – And Thoughts on Theory and Empirics in Historical Political Economy

Posted on April 18, 2022April 18, 2022 by Vicky Fouka

A portion of this blog is consistently devoted to “What can we learn?” type of posts, discussing research that uses history to understand timeless political, economic and social questions – from the effects of immigration, to those of small government and lessons for the spread of pandemics. Besides the concrete historical insights that such research … Continue reading Explaining Assimilation – And Thoughts on Theory and Empirics in Historical Political Economy