Global Economic History
Our Global Economic History research programme uses data across countries to study long run growth patterns. It covers two key areas of focus:
- The evolution of colonial economies using company-level records to shed new light on the economics and consequences of the imperial period.
- A new data digitisation initiative focused on the UK economy from the late 19th century until the start of electronic records in the 1980s.
Project Contacts:
Bishnupriya Gupta
Professor of Economics, University of Warwick
Stephen Broadberry
Professor of Economic History, Nuffield College, Oxford
James Fenske
Professor of Economics, University of Warwick
Featured Projects
Economic History podcast
Why the West got rich? Interviews with expert guests on the making of the modern world.
Economics explainer videosLink opens in a new window
Video resources which relate historical data to present day global politics.
Nicholas Crafts lectures
Series of annual lectures for economic historians which examine key research topics.
Project News
New podcast: economic lessons from history
The CAGE Research Centre has launched a new economics podcast on the making of the modern world which looks to the past to help inform the decisions we make ...
Monday 18 May 2026
School students discover what it takes to become an economist
"Being an economist isn't about being a single thing. A good economist is ready for anything and can absorb anything." Mirko Draca, CAGE Centre Director
Monday 23 Mar 2026
The Economics of Education : 2026 Crafts Lecture and Workshop
Over 50 national and international delegates attended the Crafts lecture and workshop on the economics of education and the role of institutions organised by...
Thursday 5 Mar 2026
Economic Warfare and Sanctions Since 1688
How have economic warfare and sanctions been applied in modern history? Under what conditions did they work?
Tuesday 6 Jan 2026
Research Highlights
Working papers
The U.S. Civil War’s Impact on Women’s Work and Political Participation
Monday 1 Jun 2026
Women’s Education and Fertility in Italy at the Onset of the Demographic Transition
Monday 18 May 2026
Holy Growth: Two Millennia of Regional Inequality in Italy Inferred from Church Construction
Monday 18 May 2026
Journal Articles
Competition and payments to African chiefs on the Gold Coast during the slave trade, 1679‒1704
The Economic History Review, 2025
Wars, taxation and representation: Evidence from five centuries of German history
Journal of the European Economic Association, 2025
An Economic History of India: Growth, Income and Inequalities from the Mughals to the 21st Century
Cambridge University Press, 2025