EH464 Half Unit
The Historical Context of Business
This information is for the 2016/17 session.
Teacher responsible
Prof Lars Boerner SAR 505
Availability
This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, IMEX Exchange, MA Global Studies: A European Perspective, MRes in Quantitative Economic History, MSc in Accounting, Organisations and Institutions, MSc in Economic History, MSc in Economic History (Research), MSc in Global History and MiM Exchange. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Pre-requisites
There are no prerequisites, but an interest in business and economic development are advantageous.
Course content
This course explores the evolution and variation of the conditions under which business has operated in different parts of the world. It concentrates on but is not exclusively concerned with the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is not an "MBA" course, in that it does not look at the specific decisions of specific firms, but rather looks at the environments in which industries have operated in different periods and places in history.
Teaching
2 hours of lectures, 8 hours of lectures and 8 hours of seminars in the LT.
Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.
Formative coursework
Students are expected to produce one essay during the term and to sit a mock examination paper over the Christmas vacation.
Indicative reading
Readings include, S Broadberry, Productivity Race; Y Cassis, Big business: European Perspective; J Kay, Foundations of Corporate Success; N Lamoreaux & D Raff (Eds), Co-ordination and Information; M G Blackford, The Rise of Modern Business in GB, US and Japan; R Reich The Work of Nations; O Williamson 'The Modern Corporation: Origins, evolution, attributes' Journal of Economic Literature 1981; Porter, M The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Harvard Business Review 1990, CK Harley 'Substitution for prerequisites: endogenous institutions and comparative economic history' in R Sylla and G Toniolo Patterns of European Industrialisation: the nineteenth century.
Assessment
Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Teachers' comment
Key facts
Department: Economic History
Total students 2015/16: 21
Average class size 2015/16: 10
Controlled access 2015/16: Yes
Lecture capture used 2015/16: Yes (LT)
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills
- Specialist skills
Survey questions on feedback to students may be non-informative because assessed work comes later in the term than the survey.