Economic history at Oxford, 1860–2020

Working paper

Economic history is a distinctive empirical strand of economics, which has been studied and taught at Oxford since the 1860s. Innovation has been provided by a succession of able scholars, and continuity by a stable syllabus in both modern history and social studies. Enduring themes are household welfare, production and exchange, agriculture and population, history of economic thought, government and the economy, and the determinants of economic growth. In the last three decades, the focus has shifted from undergraduate teaching to taught Master’s courses and doctoral research, and from British history to a more international perspective. The discipline began by splitting away from economics but the two approaches are converging again.

Authors: Offer, A

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: University of Oxford
• Series: Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers
• Place of publication: Oxford, UK
• Publication date: 2025-10-31
• Paper number: 224
• Language: English
• Keywords: growth; Industrial Revolution; cliometrics; agriculture; welfare