The Economic History Association (EHA) was founded in 1940 to "encourage and promote teaching, research, and publication on every phase of

economic history Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the Applied economics ...

and to help preserve and administer materials for research in economic history". It publishes ''

The Journal of Economic History ''The Journal of Economic History'' is an academic journal of economic history which has been published since 1941. Many of its articles are quantitative, often following the formal approaches that have been called '' cliometrics'' or the '' ne ...

'' with the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, holds an annual meeting that usually takes place in September, and awards prizes and grants. It is also the home to the ''EH.Net Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History''.

History

Prior to the creation of the EHA, many American economic historians were members of the Economic History Society, which was established in the UK in 1926. In 1939, there was a push among some members of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

and the

American Economic Association The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics, with approximately 23,000 members. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Review, an ...

to set up an American economic history association. The meeting to found the Economic History Association, which was organized by Earl J. Hamilton, was held on December 29, 1939.

Membership

There are more than 1,000 EHA members worldwide, and composed of faculty and graduate students from universities around the world, as well as economists in the private sector and in government. Michael Haupert of the

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

is the executive director, and John Wallis is the President. Previous EHA Presidents include Oxford's Robert C. Allen, Vanderbilt's

Jeremy Atack Jeremy Atack (born 16 January 1949) received his B.A. from Jesus College of the University of Cambridge in 1971 and his Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington in 1976. He is Research Professor Emeritus of Economics at Vanderbilt University, a re ...

, UC Berkeley's

Barry Eichengreen Barry Julian Eichengreen (born 1952) is an American economist and economic historian who is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught sin ...

, Yale's Naomi Lamoreaux, as well as Economics Nobel Laureates

Robert Fogel Robert William Fogel (; July 1, 1926 – June 11, 2013) was an American economic historian and winner (with Douglass North) of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. As of his death, he was the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Se ...

and

Douglass North Douglass Cecil North (November 5, 1920 – November 23, 2015) was an American economist known for his work in economic history. Along with Robert Fogel, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1993. In the words of the Nobel ...

Prizes and grants

The Economic History Association supports research through Arthur H. Cole grants-in-aid and awards prizes for publications, dissertations, and teaching, as well as fellowships and grants for students of economic history. It awards several prizes for publications: * Arthur Cole Prize: best article published in ''

'' each year * Alice Hanson Jones prize: for the best book published biennially in American economic history * Gyorgi Ranki prize: best book published biennially in non-American economic history * Allan Nevins prize: best dissertation on

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

or Canadian economic history, awarded on behalf of

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

* Alexander Gerschenkron prize: best dissertation in non-American economic history * Jonathan Hughes Prize: for superior teaching * Engerman-Goldin Prize: biennial prize for contributions to economic history made in the previous five years. It is the EHA's newest award and whose first award will be disbursed in 2018. The society also provides grants to support the early stages of dissertation work in economic history and fellowships to support students finishing their dissertations on the topic. Two

Kenneth Sokoloff Kenneth Lee Sokoloff (July 27, 1952 – May 21, 2007) was an American economic historian who was broadly interested in the interaction between initial factor endowments, institutions, and economic growth. In particular, he examined the influence ...

fellowships are awarded by the EHA each year to students finishing their dissertations in economic history.

Annual conferences

EHA's annual conference is held each September in North America. The 2018 meeting took place in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, with the theme "‘From Plague, Famine, and War, Save us, O Lord’ Shocks and Disasters in Economic History". The 2019 conference in Atlanta was themed "Markets and Governments in Economic History." According to the normal schedule submissions for consideration for the 2020 conference will be due in January 2020. In partnership with

, EHA has designated sessions at the annual ASSA conference each January.

References

{{authority control Historical societies of the United States Professional associations based in the United States Economic history societies History of business Organizations based in Wisconsin Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies