ECON 229 Topics in Economic History

Emphasis is on institutions and organizations, such as risk-sharing organizations, and property rights, such as patent laws and their effects on technological change and economic growth. Topics include: competing hypotheses for cross-country differences in long-term growth; the importance of institutions to economic growth; formation, function, and persistence of institutions and organizations; role of patent laws in creating incentives for innovation; informal networks as a mechanism to trade property rights; causes and effects of institutional change; tests of contract theory in history; and long-term migration and its effect on economic development. (not given this year)

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