JACOB LOUIS
WEISDORF
SECS-P/12
Master theses
For students wishing to write a master thesis in economic or business history: please read the document available for download in the grey box to the right carefully before contacting me. Please note: the earliest graduation session for students wishing to write their thesis with me is the spring of 2025.
Business History (in English):
The course is interested in why the business landscape looks the way it does today. This includes the history of entrepreneurs, firms, and corporate systems, covering subjects such as innovation, globalisation, and government regulation as well as their influence on businesses and their management. Students will be familiarised with the emergence of factory production; why certain firms grew large (in some cases ultra large) and others did not; why models alternative to mass production existed and survived; and why people in the developed part of the world are as rich as they are today.
Lectures take place in the autum semester. The course website can be accessed here. Please note that an @uniroma1.it email address is needed in order to access the website. Practical questions, e.g. how to sign up for the exam on Infostud, etc, as well as any technical problems encountered by students must be directed to the student administration.
Important note about the grading system: the grade is a combination of the score of an oral or written examination (for up to 20 points) and an essay (for up to 10 points). The essay must be sent via email as a PDF to jacob.weisdorf@uniroma1.it for approval no later than one week before the official exam date. The essay must contain 5,000 words (excluding the reference list). The topic of the essay alongside the two main research articles that form the basis of the essay must be about business history and must be approved by me in advance.
Economic History (in English):
The course introduces students to economic history serving as a perfect compliment for those interested in development economics. The course takes students from the pre-industrial era via the first, second, and third industrial revolutions up to the present day. The course considers when, why, and how some countries grew rich while others remained poor; how this divergence happened; and what barriers to economic development might be.
Lectures take place in the autum semester. The course website can be accessed here. Please note that an @uniroma1.it email address is needed in order to access the website. Practical questions, e.g. how to sign up for the exam on Infostud, etc, as well as any technical problems encountered by students must be directed to the student administration.
Important note about the grading system: the grade is a combination of the score of an oral or written examination (for up to 20 points) and an essay (for up to 10 points). The essay must be sent via email as a PDF to jacob.weisdorf@uniroma1.it for approval no later than one week before the official exam date. The essay must contain 5,000 words (+/- five percent) not including the reference list. The topic of the essay alongside the two main research articles that form the basis of the essay must be about economic history and must be approved by me in advance.
Reference letters
Please note that I only write reference letters for my PhD students and not for master or even thesis students.
Office hours
25 Sept to 15 Dec 2023: Mondays 16-18. Please send an email to <jacob.weisdorf@uniroma1.it> the day before in order to make an appointment. Outside the mentioned period: only by email appointment.
Office hours (October to December): Mondays 16-18
Office hours (March to May): Mondays 16-18
Appointments can be made via email sent to jacob.weisdorf@uniroma1.it
Permanent link to CV: https://sites.google.com/view/jacobweisdorf/cv