Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

The course is interested in the history of entrepreneurs, firms, and business systems. It covers the influence hereon of innovation, globalisation, and government regulation. Students will be familiarised with the historical emergence of factory production; why certain firms grew large and others did not; and why models alternative to mass production existed and survived. The course will also consider whether successful entrepreneurs are unique (larger-than-life) characters or simply anyone with a proper training background in business management.

Rather than a set of hands-on tools, the course provides an overview of the development of firms and business in the context of the centuries-long process of industrialisation in the western world. This includes a chronological tour of how firms and businesses emerged, from pre-industrial times until today, and the economic theories attempting to explain it. Students will understand how the modern world grew rich and how the wealth of nations came about thanks to mass production. 

Starting with the pre-industrial (pre-factory) era and the first Industrial Revolution in England, the course then moves via the second Industrial Revolution focused mainly on the United States to the third Industrial Revolution regarded from a global and multinational perspective. Emphasis is on ‘big business’ among the major-player countries in history – Europe, the US and Japan alongside industrial runner-ups Germany, France, and Italy – as well as emerging economies including China and India. 

Although the natural unit of analysis would appear to be the firm, the course focuses chiefly on the interaction between firms and society at large, including business responses to the world economy, which was always a fundamental influence on the evolution of national or regional business strategies and differences herein. Examples of successful businesses will be provided, including the tools behind their success, and why some of them failed to survive the global economy.

Close attention is also paid to the role played by technological progress for the development of firms and businesses, including general-purpose technologies such as steam-power, electric-power, and computer-power, as well as developments in transportation and information infrastructures. The course is also interested in understanding firm- or business-specific adaptations to various country-specific political and cultural regimes and the environment.

The grade will combine the score of a multiple-choice exam carried out in class during the semester as well as the score of an written essay on a topic chosen by the student. 

Thursdays 16:15-18:00 in Aula Acquario and Fridays 14:15-16:00 in Aula 9A starting on Thursday 21 September 2023. The classroom(s) will be announced here in the fullness of time.

Mandatory reading:
Franco Amatori and Andrea Colli (2011), Business History: Complexities and Comparison, Routledge. Any edition is fine. Available on Amazon.com.

This course introduces students to economic history from a development economics viewpoint. 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 the barriers to economic development might be. The course is a perfect compliment for students interested in development economics.

Students will be made familiar with the newest theories and evidence describing the long historical road to riches (for some), and how globalisation and economic integration shaped - and sometimes shifted - economic regimes and world leaderships. To this end, the course discusses the roles in this played by geography, culture, institutions, innovations, physical and human capital accumulation, infrastructure, colonialism, wealth and income inequality, epidemics, and economic policy. The main focus is the European economy - the world's first region to industrialise - but the course also considers Europe’s position vis-à-vis other world regions. 

Students will learn when economic growth first emerged; what its key driving forces were; and how economic growth might be sustained in the future. Students will understand the sometimes very long legacies of past developments and how to build on or break these in order to achieve economic development. They will see how historical data – even very distant ones – offer a laboratory for understanding central economic phenomena. This way students will get a sense of how economic history is able to inform contemporary economic debates and policy decisions.

The grade will combine the score of a multiple-choice exam carried out in class during the semester as well as the score of an essay on a topic chosen by the student and supervised by the professor. 

Lectures will take place on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 12:15-14:00 in Aula Sergio Steve starting on 18 September 2022.

Inspirational reading:
Robert C. Allen (2011), Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press (any edition). Available on Amazon.