The Exchange

On December 14-15, 2015, the Bank of France will host a conference emphasizing the contribution of economic history to policy making. The meeting will take place at the Banque of France conference center, 31 rue Croix des Petits Champs, Paris. According to the organizers, The various works that will be presented illustrate how long-time series inform decision making. They also show how historical models and case studies help to improve our thinking about topical policy issues such as monetary policy in a world of high public debt, the impact of financial regulation on financial markets, and the policies stimulating innovation or favoring financial stability. The conference is organized by the Banque de France, Sciences Po, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and the Universities of Oxford, of Carlos III Madrid, of Humboldt zu Berlin, and the London School of Economics, and the Graduate Institute Geneva as member institutions of the European network Macrohist .   ...

The next gathering of the World Economic History Congress (WEHC) will convene July 29 – August 3, 2018 in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Executive Committee of the IEHA welcomes proposals from all members of the international economic history community, whatever their institutional affiliation or status, as well as from scholars in related disciplines. The conveners state: We invite you to join us in Boston to consider the many ‘Waves of Globalization’ that have given rise to the varied and multi-directional connections that characterize the economic and social world we know today. While seeking proposals for sessions that explore facets of this broad theme, we also welcome submissions on the economic and social histories of all places and periods, on the exploration of varied sources and methods, and on the theory and the uses of economic history itself. Furthermore, we invite members to employ and analyze diverse strategies for representing the past.   ...

Douglass C. North, co-recipient (with Robert Fogel) of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the Spencer T. Olin Professor Emeritus in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Monday, November 23, 2015, at his summer home in Benzonia, Michigan. He was 95.      North examined the formation of political and economic institutions and the impact of those institutions on the performance of economies through time. In the words of his Nobel citation, he was honored “for having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change.”       North received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley; before moving to Washington University in 1983, he taught for many years at the University of Washington. His major works include The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790-1860 (1961), Institutional Change and Amer...

On November 20, the conference "Making Markets: Histories of Commodity Trading and Grading" took place under the auspices of the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society at the University of California at Berkeley. According to the organizers, Caitlin Rosenthal of Berkeley and Espen Storli of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Since 1750, social, political, and technological conditions have dramatically transformed the trading of commodity goods. Through advances in measurement and communication, previously differentiated products have been transformed into fungible commodities that can be traded on paper and at great distances. These products and the markets where they are exchanged have become terrain for speculation, risk management, and even political negotiation. . . . We believe that these practices of measurement and exchange are at the heart of the process of commoditization: it is the mathematics and measurement of grading and trad...

The Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF) at the Stockholm School of Economics invites proposals for papers to be presented at a conference/symposium on Cold War Business History, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 11, 2016. The symposium will focus on the participation of businesses (outside the defense industry) in the defense effort (or in preparedness or contingency planning) during the Cold War. This includes, but is not limited to, war production (including preparations for war production), contingency storage of raw materials and foodstuffs, planning for evacuation or relocation, and participation in government planning and information services.     Proposals dealing with any of these aspects or related fields, regardless of country, are welcome. Proposals should include a one-page CV and an abstract not exceeding 250 words that addresses the research plan and the original contribution to historical knowledge the final product is ex...

The 2016 annual meeting of the Economic History Association will be held in Boulder, Colorado, on September 16-18; the theme is “Economic History and Economic Development.” According to the call for papers , The Program Committee welcomes submissions on all subjects in economic history, though some preference will be given to papers that specifically fit the theme. Papers should be submitted individually, but authors may suggest to the Committee that three particular papers fit well together in a panel. Papers should in all cases be works in progress rather than accepted or published work. Submitters should let the program committee know at the time of application if the paper they are proposing has already been submitted for publication. Individuals who presented or co-authored a paper given at the 2015 meeting are not eligible for inclusion in the 2016 program. Proposals must be submitted online; the deadline is January 31, 2016 . More information about the meeting theme,...

On May 27-28, 2016, the Association of Business Historians (ABH) and the German Business History Society (GUG) will hold a joint conference at the Humboldt University Berlin, Germany. The theme will be "Creativity and Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy." The program committee consists of: Hartmut Berghoff (GHI Washington), Lucy Newton (Henley Business School), Alexaner Nützenadel (Humboldt-University), Teresa da Silva Lopes (University of York), and Andrea Schneider (GUG).     The organizers welcome papers on any topic related to business history, even where it does not focus on the conference theme, and on any time period or country. Proposals are welcomed for either individual papers or entire sessions (each of normally one-and-a-half hours). Each paper proposal should include a one-page abstract, a list of 3 to 5 keywords, and a one-page CV. Proposals for sessions should also include a cover letter containing a title and a one-paragraph session description...

"From Public Interest to Private Profit: The Changing Political and Social Legitimacy of International Business" will be held in Toronto, Ontario, on May 5-6, 2016. Funded by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust in the UK, and sponsored by the Centre for the Political Economies of International Commerce (PEIC) at the University of Kent, UK (directed by William Pettigrew), and the Business History Group at the Rotman School of Business, this two-day conference "will bring historians, business historians, management scholars, and business practitioners together to discuss . . . questions within a long time frame and within a cross-disciplinary framework."      The event will include a keynote lecture, an opening panel of business practitioners in which the present-day challenges facing international corporations are discussed. The first day of the conference will focus on the period 1600-1850; the second day will focus on 1850 to the present day. The conference ...

The journal Business History has issued a call for papers for a special volume on "Historical Research on Institutional Change." Guest editors will be Stephanie Decker, Lars Engwall, Michael Rowlinson, and Behlül Üsdiken. The editors write, Institutional change is by its very definition a process that unfolds over long time periods with fundamentally unpredictable outcomes that can only be properly evaluated with hindsight. Because institutional change is a fundamental feature in historical research, many historians do not necessarily define or reflect on this as a research phenomenon in its own right. On the other hand many research debates in organization studies have remained curiously a-historical when developing the antecedents, outcomes and mediating factors for processes of institutionalization, institutional maintenance, and deinstitutionalization. . . . Nevertheless, between these two extremes there are many processes of institutional change in organizations tha...

The European Association for Banking and Financial History (EABH) is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the organization will meet on January 28-29, 2016, at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence, Italy, for a two-part conference .     The first day will feature a workshop whose aim is to "lay the groundwork for a project on the oral history of European Finance. . . . [and] to kick of a larger discussion on European oral history and about exemplary ways of  integrating oral history to financial archivists practice." The program for this section is available here .     On the second day, in a section called "Eurovision? The Initial Period of Europe’s Monetary Union," the meeting will take the form of a 'Conversation' with "those financiers, politicians, lawyers, archivists and academics that were involved in relevant decisions concerning the financial sector 25 years ago -- and those today." T...

Those unable to attend the recent Economic History Association meeting should note that abstracts of the papers are available from the full conference booklet . In addition, most of the papers are linked from the on-line version of the program . A new site, "Records of London's Livery Companies Online" (ROLLCO), provides records of Apprentices and Freemen in the City of London Livery Companies between 1400 and 1900. The debate on slavery and capitalism continues: NYU sociologist John Clegg reviews several recent books in Critical Historical Studies (unfortunately behind a paywall). At The Junto, Tom Cutterham reflects on Clegg's review, and Edward Baptist then responds . [There is also a roundtable review of the Baptist book in the September 2015 Journal of Economic History .]     Readers may also be interested in Slate's audio presentation, "When Cotton Became King," for which Baptist is a guest commentator. A conference on "The His...

The 2016 Organization of American Historians (OAH) annual meeting will take place in Providence, Rhode Island, on April 7-10. The theme of the meeting is "On Leadership." The full program has not yet been posted, but sessions and abstracts for various topics are now available, including one for "Business & Economy." Several of these sessions are sponsored by the Business History Conference. Included are "Temporalities of Agriculture and Capitalism," chaired by Lisa Gitelman "No-Fault: Injury, Compensation, and the Shifting Rhetoric of Responsibility in Twentieth-Century America," chaired by Jonathan Levy "History, Numbers, Numeracy: Opportunities and Obstacles in Quantitative and Digital History," chaired by Caitlin Rosenthal "Law, Finance, and Institutional Leadership: New Perspectives on the History of Financialization," chaired by Naomi Lamoreaux "The Business of Leadership," chaired by Pamela Laird ...

The Business History Conference has just launched a Twitter presence. Those interested can follow the account (@TheBHCNews) or look at the posts here: https://twitter.com/TheBHCNews even without a Twitter account. This is a new experiment for the BHC, and we hope that you will join us in the “twittersphere.” Twitter can be an excellent way to keep up with announcements in the field, research and grant opportunities, publications, and conferences, and to stay connected to colleagues. The Portland annual meeting will be using the hashtag #BHC2016 , and everyone is encouraged to use it. (Here is some more info about hashtags: https://support.twitter.com/ articles/49309# ). If you are new to Twitter check out this getting started guide: https://support.twitter.com/ articles/215585# . Ellan Spero is the BHC Twitter editor.

The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) will hold its 2016 meeting on June 22-26 in Singapore. The call for papers has been posted, with a submission deadline of December 31, 2015 [extended] ( December 1 for Open Session proposals). According to the call for papers, the Program Committee invites proposals on any topic in a broadly defined history of technology, including topics that push the boundaries of the discipline. The Committee welcomes proposals for complete sessions (preferred) or individual papers from researchers at all levels, whether veterans or newcomers to SHOT's meetings, and regardless of primary discipline. Because complete session proposals are strongly preferred, the Committee has set up an Open Session system, whereby individuals can find others to join them in a full session. For details on this process, please see the full call for papers. Both traditional and unconventional complete sessions (roundtables, etc.) may be submitted via the l...