1. What do economic historians do? Tirthankar Roy LSE Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics Mumbai 21 May 2016

2. What is economic history? history of material life Why study it? To answer the economic growth question: why some countries grow rich, and others stay poor.

3. The economic growth question: what are we explaining? a.Origin of “modern” economic growth – productivity-driven b.Origin of “divergence” - Emergence of world economic inequality since 1800 (or 1600?)

4. Depending on whether you are an applied economic theorist or a historian, you can answer the question differently. Economists usually test single-variable causal model, often by means of cross-country regressions Historians do case-studies that allow for some openness about the model and how the causal variables are interrelated.

5. Single-variable explanations of growth and world inequality TheoryVariable/process Smithian Market integration, fall in trade cost  Specialization  productivity MarxistExploitation of poorer regions by richer ones new institutional economic history (NIE)Institutions mitigate transaction cost Endogenous growthGrowth of knowledge

6. Beyond single-variable explanations Variables interact in ways that are not understood well Not all causes are accounted for by economic theory Example of interaction – culture and economics – demographic change History should be case-studies – of nation, region, group, firm – enables us to see interactions better

7. A third door of entry: history is a tool for contextual development studies Knowing the past helps understand the present better. Context-focused development study – emphasis on field work and on history

8. 1980-2000: The battle over “Eurocentric” approaches

9. 2000: the rise of China Was Europe exceptional? Not until c. 1800. What made it forge ahead? New World resources

10. 2010s: Bringing India in Two books on India-Europe comparison with very different messages

11. Where is the debate now? Beyond Eurocentric approaches - Many similarities between Europe and non-Europe discovered New knowledge on living standards Expanded the range of explanatory variables Geography New World resources Terrain: Barriers to Smithian trade (Studer) Climate States and political systems Impetus to the study of Africa, Asia and Latin America

12. Where I stand India has been subjected to diverse influences Its geographical and cultural diversity also great Both features make it a fascinating case-study material and poor material for cross-country regressions Case study of what? Law and institutions. Law and the Economy in Colonial India (with Anand V Swamy, Williams College), University of Chicago Press Global contact India in the World Economy from Antiquity to the Present, Cambridge UP Geography Natural Disasters in Indian History, OUP, Delhi Business Culture Company of Kinsmen: Capitalism and Community in Indian History, OUP, Delhi