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Economic History

Code: 105784
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Accounting and Finances FB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Montserrat Llonch Casanovas
Email :
montserrat.llonch@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Martin Eduardo Garrido Lepe
Alberta Toniolo
Carles Gil Jordan

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for taking the course successfully. Nonetheless it would be desirable if students were familiar with basic knowledge of Global Contemporary History, Economics and Geography.

Objectives

- Analyse the complexity and dynamics of economic processes.

- Identify and explain the main determinants that have made possible periods of growth, economic stability, recession and crisis, on a national and international scale.

- Establish the explanatory factors of the economic globalisation processes.

- Analyse the causes and consequences of inequality amongst countries and between individuals generated by capitalist economic development.

- Study technological revolutions and their impact on the economy and on business organisation.

- Assess and compare the sustainability of historical economic development models.

- Examine the differences between women and men (gender differences) in the labour market, in access to economic resources and in general welfare.

Learning outcomes

  • CM23 (Identify the main inequalities and discriminations on the grounds of sex/gender present in society.) Identify the main inequalities and discriminations on the grounds of sex/gender present in society.
  • KM18 (Recognise the factors determining competitiveness in companies during economic globalisation processes.) Recognise the factors determining competitiveness in companies during economic globalisation processes.
  • SM21 (Analyse new experiences of industrialisation in developing countries from a historical perspective.) Analyse new experiences of industrialisation in developing countries from a historical perspective.
  • SM22 (Assess the most notable technological, organisational and spatial aspects of industrialisation processes, highlighting the relations between company and technology and organisational changes in business structures.) Assess the most notable technological, organisational and spatial aspects of industrialisation processes, highlighting the relations between company and technology and organisational changes in business structures.

Contents

1. THE PRE-INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY

1.1. Limits to population growth: the Malthusian model.

1.2. Agriculture, Trade and Manufacturing.

2. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN SOCIETY AND THE ECONOMY

2.1. The agricultural revolution.

2.2. The demographic transition.

2.3. Determinants of the Industrial Revolution.

2.4. Technical and organizational change.

2.5. Modern economic growth and standards of living.

3. SECOND TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION AND FIRST GLOBALIZATION

3.1. The diffusion of the first and the emergence of the second industrial revolution.

3.2. Trade relations.

3.3. Regional and intercontinental migration processes.

3.4. Capital markets.

3.5. The formation of an international monetary system.

3.6. Divergences in the process of global economic development.

4. THE CRISIS OF LIBERAL CAPITALISM (1914-1945)

4.1. The First World War and its economic repercussions.

4.2. The unbalanced growth of the 1920s.

4.3. The Great Depression of 1929-33 and anti-crisis policies.

5. THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND MODELS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH (1944-1989)

5.1. The new international economic order and the Bretton Woods agreements.

5.2. Advanced capitalist economies, 1944-1973.

5.3. The economic crisis of 1973: causes and responses.

5.4. The economies of the socialist bloc, 1945-1989.

5.5. Growth models in developing countries.

6. THIRD TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION AND SECOND GLOBALIZATION SINCE THE 1980s

6.1. Third Technological Revolution.

6.2. The consolidation of the second globalization and its components.

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Exercise Preparation 20.5 0.82 KM18, SM21, SM22
Tutorship 10.5 0.42
Exercise sessions 17 0.68 SM21, SM22
Reading and independent study 66 2.64 SM21
Lectures 32.5 1.3 CM23, KM18, SM21, SM22

1. Lectures

The professor will develop an analytical conceptualisation and a synthesis for every topic in the programme. The aim is to facilitate the transmission of knowledge and to motivate the student in historical analysis.

2. Exercise sessions 

The aim of the exercise sessions is to help students to achieve the specific knowledge of the subject and acquire transferable skills. There will be questions set for each topic and it is expected that students will work on them before class with the help of the lectures and reading material.

3. Studying from lectures and readings

The work done in class has to be complemented by the student individually or in group work. The student should gain independence in the learning process and in the process attain the analytical tools to develop the critical thinking. This work should amount to hundred hours in addition to lectures and tutorials.

4. Tutorship

Students can use the professor's office hours to solve specific questions. Office hours will be announced in the intranet, Campus virtual.

5. Campus Virtual

Campus Virtual is a useful tool to help students to get easy information about the logistics of the course and the basic materials that the professor considers essential for learning.

6. Use of Artificial Intelligence

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted at any stage of this course. Any assignment containing content generated by AI will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in partial or total lossof marks for the activity, or more serious sanctions in cases of greater severity.

 Note: A 15-minute period will be reserved during one class session—within the schedule established by the faculty/program—for students to complete surveys evaluating the instructor's performance and the course/module.

 

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Exercise 2 8.33% of the final mark 0 0 CM23, SM21, SM22
Exercise 3 8.33% of the final mark 0 0 CM23, KM18, SM21, SM22
Final exam 40% of the final mark 2 0.08 CM23, KM18, SM21, SM22
Exercise 1 8.33% of the final mark 0 0 KM18, SM21, SM22
Midterm exam 35% of the final mark 1.5 0.06 CM23, KM18, SM21, SM22

The evaluation will consist of:

  • Four practical exercises (25% of the course grade), of which only the three best marks will be considered. These practical exercises cannot be rescheduled.
  • The midterm exam (35% of the course grade) has two parts,
  • The first part, worth 40% consists of twenty multiple-choice questions each worth 0.5 points if the answer is correct, -0.17 if the answer is incorrect and 0 if the question is not answered.
  • The second part worth 60% consists of 4 limited-length questions, each worth a maximum of 2.5 points.
  • The final exam (40% of the course grade) has two parts,
  • The first part, worth 40% consists of twenty multiple-choice questions each worth 0.5 points if the answer is correct, -0.17 if the answer is incorrect and 0 if the question is not answered.
  • The second part worth 60% consists of 4 limited-length questions, each worth a maximum of 2.5 points.


The course will be considered passed if the following two requirements are meet:

  1. The average grade for the course is equal to or higher than 4.9, and
  2. The final exam grade is equal to or higher than 4.


If a student meets the first requirement but not the second, they will receive an average course grade of 4.5 and will be allowed to take the retake exam, in accordance with the provisions set out in the "Retake Process" section found below.

If a student meets the second requirement but not the first, or meets neither, they will receive the overall course grade resulting from the direct application of the previously stated weightings and will be allowed to take the retake exam, in accordance with the provisions set out in the "Retake Process" section found below.

The questions will be on the topics explained in the theory and practical sessions and on the content of the readings and teaching materials indicated by the group professor.


Synthesis test:

  • Repeat students who wish to opt for the synthesis test will have to apply by e-mail to the group's professor before February 20, 2027. The Synthesis test will take place on the day of the final exam set by the faculty. It has two parts,
  • The first part, worth 40% consists of forty multiple-choice questions each worth 0.25 points if the answer is correct, -0.085 if the answer is incorrect and 0 if the question is not answered.
  • The second part worth 60% consists of 8 limited-length questions, each worth a maximum of 1.25 points.
  • The questions will cover all the theoretical and practical program of the subject


CAUTION:

1. A student is considered UNEVALUABLE if he/she has completed less than 30% of the assessed activities. "The qualification of UNEVALUABLE implies exhausting all the rights inherent to enrolment in the subject".

2. Only midterm and final exams can be reprogrammed, always exceptionally and after obtaining the explicit approval of the Grade Coordinator. All other types of tests performed during the course will NOT be reprogrammed.

3. This subject does not offer the option for comprehensive evaluation.


Calendar of evaluation activities

The dates of the midterm and final exam are scheduled in the assessment calendar of the Faculty.

"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified, unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staff and the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity." Section 1 of Article 264. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB).

Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph need to change an evaluation activity date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedule: e-Formulari per a la reprogramació de proves


Grade revision process

After all grading activities have ended, students will be informed of the date and way in which the course grades will be published. Students will also be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of grade revision following University regulations.


Retake Process

"To be eligible to participate in the retake process, it is required for students to have previously been evaluated for at least two thirds of the total evaluation activities of the subject." Section 2 of Article 261. The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations). Additionally, it is required that the student to have achieved an average grade of the subject greater than or equal to 3.5 and less than 5.

The date of the retake exam will be posted in the calendar of evaluation activities of the faculty. Students who take this exam and pass, will get a grade of 5 for the subject. If the student does not pass the retake, the grade will remain unchanged, and hence, student will fail the course.

The retake exam has two parts,

  • The first part, worth 40% consists of twenty multiple-choice questions each worth 0.5 points if the answer is correct, -0.17 if the answer is incorrect and 0 if the question is not answered.
  • The second part worth 60% consists of 4 limited-length questions, each worth a maximum of 2.5 points.


Irregularities in evaluation activities

In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, "in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in the evaluation of the same subject, the final grade of this subject will be 0". Section 11 of Article 266. Results of the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).

The completion of assessment activities is subject to the provisions set out in this course guide and in the "Policy of the School of Economics and Business on the Detection of Irregularities during Assessment Activities", which regulates the conditions under which assessment tasks are conducted and the procedures applicable in cases where indications of irregularities are detected. Students are encouraged to consult the policy.



Bibliography

Comín, Francisco (2011) Historia Económica Mundial. De los orígenes a la actualizad, ed. Alianza Editorial, Madrid.

Feliu, Gaspar i Carles Sudrià (2013) Introducció a la història econòmica mundial, ed. Publicacions de la Universitat de València, València. https://csuc-uab.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/avjcib/alma991000676159706709

Palafox, Jordi (ed) (2014) Los tiempos cambian. Historia de la economía, València: Tirant. Humanidades. https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsebk&AN=2217426&site=eds-live

Zamagni, Vera (2016) Una historia económica. Europa de la Edad Media a la crisis del euro, ed. Crítica, Barcelona.

Software

Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 10 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 50 Catalan second semester afternoon
(PAUL) Classroom practices 101 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 102 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 501 Catalan second semester afternoon