Economic History. Interuniversity Ph.D. Program

  • Inicio

    Director

    Prof. Carlos Santiago Caballero

    About the program

    The aim of this program is to train researchers in the different branches of economic history. Upon completion of the doctoral program, they will be able to analyse, understand and resolve issues relating to the long-term economic development of societies through the analysis of available historical data. They will also be able to produce original research in the field of economic history and very long-term economic development.

    Students are expected to gain mastery of the skills, techniques and methodologies specific to economic history, a field clearly set within the sphere of social sciences due to its interdisciplinary and cross-sectional character, as well as its place at the crossroads of economics and history.

    Upon completion of the program, graduates will be ready to pursue a career in academia, carrying out research to high standards on topics within the subject of economic history, whether at a university or research centre, in both public as well as private institutions. The training provided will also mean they can carry out jobs with a heavy research component in Public Administration, in companies and in the service sector, such as the work done by consultants or research services departments.

     

    Universities and departments

     

    Doctorado en Historia Económica
  • ACCESS

    Student profile

    Students applying to this program must have extensive knowledge in the fields of applied history and/or applied economics, have a clear understading of the research methods in the social sciences, and have received advanced training, whether specific or multidisciplinary, in the development of research skills.

    Applicants should have a strong interest in the problems related to economic growth in the long term, motivation for research, capabilities for critical analysis and a creative spirit leading to the consideration of new problems, questions and solutions.

    Entry Requirements

    According to art. 6 of the PhD studies regulation (RD 99/2011), in order to access the Program it is required to have a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) and a Master's degree (or equivalent), provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been passed in these two cycles as a whole, or the equivalent degree qualifies for level 3 of MECES (Marco Español de Cualificaciones para la Educación Superior, Spanish Framework for Higher Education Qualifications).

    Likewise, access is available to candidates in possession of foreign degrees from countries integrated into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) when the degree can be accredited as level 7 in the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), as long as the aforementioned degree allows access to PhD level studies in the country of expedition; and candidates with a degree which is equivalent to a Spanish Master's degree, obtained in foreign education systems outside the EHEA, as long as the aforementioned degree allows access to PhD level studies in the country of expedition.

    The Academic Commission of the Ph.D. Program has agreed on the following specific requirements that take into account the established entry routes to a Ph.D Program:

    1) Students with a Joint Master’s Degree in Economic History at the Universidad de Barcelona, the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and the Universidad de Zaragoza, or in the the Master’s Degree in Economic Development and Growth at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid must achieve an overall average grade of 7 or above, with a grade of 7 or above in their dissertation.

    Students applying for admission to the Ph.D. program from other programs will be required to prove that their qualifications are equivalent. The Degree Committee will be responsible for reviewing the applicant’s academic record and deciding whether they meet the criteria.

    2) Proven competence in English will be required for admission to the Ph.D. program (B1 level or equivalent), proof of which must be provided by the applicant. In the case that an applicant does not have an official language qualification the admissions committee may conduct an interview in person or online in order to assess the student’s knowledge of the language.

    3) To be admitted to the program, applications must obtain an overall assessment grade above 70%, which will be determined by the Degree Committee on the basis of the following admission criteria.

    Admission Criteria

    1. Academic record and previous qualifications. The university where the applicant studies in the past will be reviewed in detail, giving special attention to any previous training in subjects in economics, history and economic history. Modules with a research component will also be specifically reviewed. Applicants must prove they have undergone enough training to allow them to undertake research in the field of economic history.
      Weight: 45%
       
    2. Curriculum Vitae. Knowledge in the fields of economics, history and economic history will be considered an advantage. Attendance and participation in courses and scientific conferences, experience in research related activities (writing dissertations, participation in research projects, publications, etc.) and an international academic profile will also be valuable. 
      Finally, the committee will consider positively any teaching experience in the subjects of economics, history and economic history, as well as in other subjects.
      Weights: 30%
       
    3. Personal statement. The applicant's personal statement must clearly reflect the motivation behind undertaking doctoral training in the field of economic history. The committee will value the applicant's interest in a particular research area or project in which he would like to work in the future, as well as the applicant's expressed interest in the work of a member of staff from one of the departments involved in the program. In some cases, a personal statement may be supplemented with an interview.
      Weight: 20%
       
    4. Letters of recommendation from previous teachers or individuals closely involved in the professional development of the applicant. The academic commission will review favourably any letters of recommendation from previous teachers detailing past performance of the applicant both in the module(s) taught by him/her and overall in the degree (we normally ask teachers to explain where they would place the applicant among all the students they have taught over the years). These letters must cover the analytical skills of the candidate, his education and motivation.
      Weight: 5%

     

    Seats available for the academic year: 5

  • FACULTY
    • Academic Committee

      Prof. Carlos Santiago Caballero
      Departament of Social Sciences. Director of the Program

      Prof. Dácil Tania Juif
      Departament of Social Sciences.

      Prof. Juan Antonio Carmona Pidal
      Departament of Social Sciences.

    • Faculty

      Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

      • Álvarez Nogal, Carlos
      • Battilossi, Stefano
      • Carmona Pidal, Juan
      • Domènech Feliu, Jordi
      • Fernández, Eva
      • Houpt, Stefan
      • Juif, Dácil
      • Martinelli, Pablo
      • Mulhoff, Katharina
      • Nicolini, Esteban
      • Prados de la Escosura, Leandro
      • Santiago Caballero, Carlos
      • Simpson, James
      • Tena Junguito, Antonio

       

      Further information:  Social Sciences Department

       

      Universitat de Barcelona

      • Benaul Berenguer, Josep Maria 
      • Carbonell Esteller, Montserrat 
      • Castañeda Peirón, Lluís 
      • Catalan Vidal, Jordi
      • Colomé Ferrer, Josep 
      • Fernández Pérez, Paloma 
      • Gutiérrez Poch, Miquel 
      • Herranz Loncán, Alfonso 
      • Planas Maresma, Jordi 
      • Ramon Muñoz, Ramon 
      • Sánchez Suárez, Álex 
      • Soto Company, Ricard 
      • Sudrià Triay, Carles 
      • Tello Aragay, Enric 
      • Valls-Junyent, Francesc 
      • Yáñez Gallardo, César Roberto 

       

      Further information: Ph.D. Program in Economic History (Universitat de Barcelona)

       

      Universitat de Valencia

      • Tirado Fabregat, Daniel A. (Coordinator)
      • Betrán Pérez, Concepción
      • Calatayud Giner, Salvador 
      • Cubel Montesinos, Antonio
      • Pons Brias, Mª Ángeles 

       

      Further information: Ph.D. in Economic History (Universitat de Valencia)

  • TRAINING

    In addition to the elaboration of the doctoral thesis, students must do some training aimed at improving their research skills and the scientific quality of their work. This training is structured in the following subtypes:

     

    Specific training

     

    MANDATORY ACTIVITIES

    • Research in Economic History Worskhop.
      10-hour workshop taught in English during the month of October, focused on the following subjects, among others:

                            1) Elaboration of a Ph.D. thesis in Economic History. How to analyze a paper.

                            2) Quantitative papers.

                            3) Qualitative papers.

                            4) How to write and publish a research paper in Economic History.

    • Ph.D. students seminar.
      In this seminar, which takes place on an annual basis in May and June, students must present their thesis project upon completion of their first year; a paper or thesis chapter during the second year, and the final thesis a few months prior to the defense. This seminar is attended by professors and students alike. Attendance is mandatory for all Ph.D. students.

     

    • Preparation and publication of a paper or work document. This activity is required prior to the deposit of the thesis.

     

    OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES

    • Annual interuniversity sessions on Economic History.
      Annual meeting where students from all three universities do a presentation in English of their research outcomes. All students in the program are invited to participate in these meetings as of their second year.
    • Specialized courses on subjects of Economic History and Research in Economic History.
      According to the availability of resources each year, a number of specialized courses will be hosted by either professors from the universities participating in the program or  guest professors.
    • Participation in the Economic History seminar hosted by the department of Social Sciences. Students are expected to attend at least half ot the sessions.
    • Participation in conferences.
    • Attendance to summer school courses.
    • Research visits at foreign academic centers.

     

    Research skills training

     

    Research skills training is focused on abilities common to all disciplines for the development of scientific and educational skills and the improvement of the professional career. This training consists of different activities (short courses, seminars, etc.), which can be recommended by the Academic Committee of the program.

    Further information:

  • RESEARCH
    • Research Lines
      • Growth, economic integration and inequality
      • Agrarian and environmental history
      • Financial history
      • Industrial and business history
    • Scientific results

      Publications derived from doctoral theses:

       

      • Ayuso-Diaz, A. & Tena-Junguito, A. (2020): “Trade in the Shadow of Power: Japanese Industrial Exports in the Interwar years”. Economic History Review. Volume 73, Issue 3, August 2020, pages 815-843.
      • Ayuso-Díaz, A. (2019): “Human Capital and Institutions on Latin American FDI (1970-2014)”. Revista Analíticos. Volume 1, Issue 1, pages 7-18.
      • Maravall Buckwalter, Laura & J. Baten (2020): "The influence of colonialism on Africa's Welfare: An anthropometric study". Journal of Comparative Economics. 2020.
      • Maravall Buckwalter, Laura (2019): “Factor Endowments on the 'Frontier': Algerian Settler Agriculture at the Beginning of the 1900s". Economic History Review. Vol. 73, Issue 3, pages 758-784.
      • Maravall Buckwalter, Laura & J. Baten (2019): "Valkyries: Was Gender Equality High in the Scandinavian Periphery since Viking Times? Evidence from Enamel Hypoplasia and Height Ratios". Economics and Human Biology. Vol. 34, pages 181-193, January 2019-April 2019.
      • Maravall Buckwalter, Laura (2019): "The Impact of a 'Colonizing River': Colonial Railways and the Indigenous Population in French Algeria at the turn of the Century". Economic History of Developing Regions. Vol. 34, nº 1, pages 16-47.
      • Gómez León, María (2020): "The Kuznets Curve In Brazil, 1850-2010". Revista de Historia Economica.
      • Gómez León, María & HJ De Jong (2019): "Inequality in turbulent times: income distribution in Germany and Britain, 1900–50". The Economic History Review, Vol. 72 (3), pages 1073-1098.
      • Gómez León, María (2019): "The rise of the middle class in Brazil, 1850–1950". European Review of Economic History, Vol. 23 (4), pages 482-498.
      • Marechaux, Benoit (2020): "Los asentistas de galeras genoveses y la articulación naval de un imperio policéntrico (siglos XVI-XVII)". Hispania, Vol. 80 (264), pages 47-77.
      • Marechaux, Benoit (2020): "Business organisation in the Mediterranean Sea: Genoese galley entrepreneurs in the service of the Spanish Empire (late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries)". Business History. 2020.
      • Marechaux, Benoit (2018): “Consuls vénitiens en Méditerranée orientale (1575-1645)” en M. Aglietti, M. Herrero Sánchez y F. Zamora Rodríguez (eds.). Los cónsules de extranjeros en la Edad Moderna y a principios de la Edad Contemporánea. Madrid, Doce Calles, pages 145-158.
      • Quoc-Anh & Galbiati, Roberto & Marx, Benjamin & Ortiz Serrano, Miguel Angel (2020): "J'Accuse! Antisemitism and Financial Markets in the time of the Dreyfus Affair". CEPR Discussion Papers, 14826, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
      • Ortiz Serrano, Miguel Angel (2018): "Political connections and stock returns: evidence from the Boulangist campaign, 1888–1889". Financial History Review, Vol. 25, Issue 3, December 2018, pages 323–356.
      • Kisling, Wilfried (2019): “A Microanalysis of Trade Finance: German bank entry and coffee exports in Brazil, 1880-1913”. European Review of Economic History.
      • Timini, Jacopo (2020): "The drivers of Italian exports and product market entry: 1862-1913”. European Review of Economic History, forthcoming, 2020.
      • Timini, Jacopo (2020): “Staying dry on Spanish wine: The rejection of the 1905 Spanish-Italian trade agreement”. European Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 63.
      • Timini, Jacopo (2019): “An estimation of the effects of Brexit on trade and migration”. Campos R. & J. Timini. Banco de España Occasional Paper, Vol. 1912, May 2019.
      • Timini, Jacopo (2018): “Currency Unions and Heterogeneous Trade Effects: The Case of the Latin Monetary Union” 2018, European Review of Economic History, 22(3), pages 322-348.
      • Herbert S. Klein & Sergio T. Serrano Hernández (2019): “Was there a 17th century crisis in Spanish America?”. Revista de Historia Económica-Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 37- 1, 2019, págs. 43-80
      • Absell, C. D. & Tena-Junguito, A. (2018): "The reconstruction of Brazil’s foreign trade series, 1821-1913". Revista de Historia Económica-Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 36 (2018), pages 87-115.
      • Absell, C. D. & Tena-Junguito, A. (2017): "The  Brazilian Export Economy, 1822-1913’. In S. Kuntz-Ficker, ed., The First Export Era Revisited: Reassessing its Contribution to Latin American Economies (Cham, 2017), pages 113-152.
      • Absell, C. D. & Tena-Junguito, A. (2016): "Brazilian export growth and divergence in the tropics during the nineteenth century". Journal of Latin American Studies, 48 (2016), pages 677-706.
      • Gómez Blanco, V. M. (2019): "Dinero, poder y ascenso social. Motivos y beneficios de la adquisición de oficios en la Castilla moderna". In García-Guerra et al. (ed.) De la nobleza y la caballería en la Edad Moderna, New Digital Press, pages 205-230.
      • Lopez Cermeño, Alejandra & K. Enflo (2019): "Can kings create towns that thrive? The long-term implications of new town foundations". Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 112, pages 50-69 10
      • Lopez Cermeño, Alejandra (2019): "The driving forces of service localization during the twentieth century: evidence from the United States". European Review of Economic History, Vol. 23 (2), pages 145-174
      • Lopez Cermeño, Alejandra (2019): "Do universities generate spatial spillovers? Evidence from US counties between 1930 and 2010". Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 19 (6), pages 1173-1210
    • Scientific publications

      Notable scientific publications from the UC3M faculty of the PhD program:

      • Alvarez Nogal (2020): "Economic Effects of the Black Death: Spain in European Perspective" (with L. Prados de la Escosura and Carlos Santiago). Investigaciones de Historia Económica / Economic History Research, 16 (4), 2020, pp. 35-48 
      • Alvarez Nogal (2018): “Refinancing short-term debt with a fixed monthly interest rate into funded juros under Philip II: an asiento with the Maluenda brothers” (with C. Chamley). Economic History Review, 71-4, 2018, pp. 1100-1117
      • Alvarez Nogal (2016): “Philip II against the Cortes and the credit freeze of 1575-1577” (with C. Chamley). Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 34-3, 2016, pp. 351-382.
      • Alvarez Nogal (2013): “The Rise and Fall of Spain (1270-1850)” (with L. Prados de la Escosura). Economic History Review, 66-1, 2013, pp. 1-37.
      • Battilossi, S., R. Escario and J. Foreman-Peck (2013): "Fiscal policy response to cycles under tworegimes: Spain 1959-1998". Cliometrica, 7 (3), pp. 267-294.
      • Nicolini, E. (2021): “Comparing Income and Wealth Inequality in Pre-Industrial Economies: the case of Castile (Spain) in the eighteenth-century” (with Fernando Ramos-Palencia). Forthcoming in European Review of Economic History.
      • Nicolini, E. (2020): “Regional Growth and the Persistence of Regional Income Inequality in Argentina in the First Half of the Twentieth Century" (with Florencia Aráoz). Journal of Latin America Studies 52, 293-316.
      • Nicolini, E. (2018): “Growth and Regional Disparities in South America, 1890-1960” (with Marc Badía-Miró and Henry Willbelald). Journal of Interdisciplinary History 49, 1, 117-139.
      • Juif, Dácil (2018): "From coercion to compensation: institutional responses to labour scarcity in the Central African Copperbelt" (with Frankema, Ewout). Journal of Institutional Economics, 14(2), 313-343.
      • Juif, Dácil (2015): “Skill Selectivity in Transatlantic Migration: The Case of Canary Islanders in Cuba”. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 33: 189-222.
      • Martinelli, Pablo (2014): "Von Thünen South of the Alps: access to markets and interwar Italian agriculture". European Review of Economic History 18 (2), 107-143.
      • Martinelli, Pablo (2014): "Latifundia revisited: Market power, land inequality and agricultural efficiency. Evidence from interwar Italian agriculture". Explorations in Economic History 54, 79-106.
      • Katherina Mulhoff (2021): "Why Covid19 will not be gone soon: Lessons from the institutional economics of smallpox vaccination in 19th century Germany". Working Paper. Available from Mar 02 2021.
      • Tena, Antonio (2018): “Mexico´s foreign trade in a turbulent era (1821-1879)" (with Sandra Kuntz). Revista de Historia Económica–Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Vol. 36, No. 1: 149–182.  doi:10.1017/S0212610917000222.
      • Tena, Antonio (2017): “Lewis revisited: tropical polities competing on the world market 1830-1938” (with Giovanni Federico). The Economic History Review, Volume 70, Issue 4, pages 1244–1267.
      • Tena, Antonio (2017): “A tale of two globalizations: gains from trade and openness 1800–2010” (with Giovanni Federico). Review of World Economics, Volume 153, number 3, pp.601-626. 
      • Domènech, J. and Juan F. Fernández (forthcoming): "Socio-economic determinants of survival in a Nazi concentration camp: the experience of Spanish prisoners at Mauthausen". Journal of Interdisciplinary History 43, 1–45.
      • Domènech, J. and Pablo Martinelli (forthcoming): "Spontaneous or programmatic? Land occupations during Spain’s Second Republic (1931-1936)". Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , 1–36.
      • Sergi Basco, Jordi Domènech, and Joan R. Rosés (2021): "The redistributive effects of pandemics: Evidence on the Spanish flu". World Development 141, May 2021
      • Domenech, J. and Francisco Herreros (2018): "Land reform and conflict before the civil war: landowner response to tenancy reform in 1930s Catalonia". The Economic History Review 71, 1322–1348.
      • Herreros, F. and Jordi Domènech (2018): "Pre-war grievances and violence against civilians in civil wars. evidence from the Spanish civil war in Catalonia". International Journal of Conflict and Violence 12, 1–26.
      • Domenech, J. and Francisco Herreros (2017): "Land reform and peasant revolution. evidence from 1930s Spain". Explorations in Economic History 64, 82–103.
      • Prados de la Escosura, L. (2013): "Human Development in Africa: A Long-run Perspective". Explorations in Economic History, 50 (2), pp. 179-204.
      • Santiago Caballero (2021): "The gender gap in the biological living standard in Spain. A study based on the heights of an elite migration to Mexico, 1840-1930". doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2021.100993
      • Santiago Caballero (2020): "Intergenerational occupational mobility in nineteenth century Spain (Valencia), 1841-1870". Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, pp. 1–46.
      • Alvarez Nogal, Prados de la Escosura and Santiago Caballero (2020): "Growth Recurring in Preindustrial Spain: Half a Millennium Perspective". EHES Working Paper | No. 177 | March 2020
      • Santiago Caballero (2011): "Income inequality in central Spain, 1690-1800". Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 83-96.
      • Simpson, James and Juan Carmona (2020): Why Democracy Failed: The Agrarian Origins Of The Spanish Civil War. Cambridge University Press.
      • Carmona, Juan, Joan Roses and James Simpson (2019): “The question of land access and the Spanish Land Reform of 1932”. The Economic History Review, 2019, 72 (2) 669-690.  
      • Simpson, James, and Juan Carmona (2017): “Too many workers or not enough land? Why land reform fails in Spain during the 1930s”. Historia Agraria, 2017, 72, 37-68.
      • Carmona, Juan, Markus Lampe and Joan Rosés (2017): "Housing Affordability during the Urban Transition in Spain". The Economic History Review 70-2, 2017, pp 632-658.
      • Carmona, Juan and Joan Roses (2012): "Land Markets and Agrarian Backwardness (Spain, 1900-1936)". European Review of Economic HIstory", 2012, 16-1, 74-96.

       

  • THESIS

    Preparation of the thesis

    Please check the Guide with recommendations that the University Library has accessible on its website.

    You must always follow the guidelines of your thesis advisor, the guidelines of your doctoral program, and the regulations of the Doctoral School.

    Thesis defense

     

    The doctoral thesis consists of an original research work developed by the Ph.D. candidate student in the field of knowledge of the program that enables the student for autonomous work in the field of R+D+ i.

    Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the Doctoral School establishes the follow-up procedures to guarantee the quality of the doctorate's training and supervision. It also facilitates the procedures for the proper evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis.

     

    Further information:

  • QUALITY

    GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PH.D.

    ☛ Implementation Year: 2017-2018

    QUALITY ASSURANCE

    The Academic Committee of the Ph.D. complies with the SGIC-UC3M It is responsible for the quality analysis of the program and produces the Degree Reports ("Memoria Académica de Titulación").

    QUALITY INDICATORS

    COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

  • CONTACT
    Bienvenida Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

    Doctoral School Office | Getafe Campus

    Carmen Martín Gaite Building, Office 18.0.A15
    C/ Madrid, 135
    28903 Getafe (Madrid)

    Contact