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Historical Economic and Social Studies

Historical Economic and Social Studies is a research topic within Economics and Econometrics. Science Explorer counts 36k research works in it since 1950. 17.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the economic development, inequality, and various determinants of living standards in Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It delves into topics such as the impact of height, wages, trade, and historical institutions on economic growth and societal well-being.

  • Economic Growth
  • Height
  • Wages
  • Inequality
  • Europe
  • Trade
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Health
  • Globalization
  • Historical Institutions
Research works
36k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
17.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-2%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Historical Economic and Social Studies research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.2k and 1.1k works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.2k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 1.1k works
  3. 3 France 216 works
  4. 4 Italy 177 works
  5. 5 Canada 174 works
  6. 6 Germany 170 works
  7. 7 Netherlands 135 works
  8. 8 Spain 126 works
  9. 9 Australia 122 works
  10. 10 China 88 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 33.9%United Kingdom: 31.9%France: 6.1%Italy: 5.0%6 others listed: 23.1%34%largest
United States1,193 · 33.9%United Kingdom1,123 · 31.9%France216 · 6.1%Italy177 · 5.0%6 others listed814 · 23.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Historical Economic and Social Studies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Cambridge publishes the most Historical Economic and Social Studies research, followed by University of Oxford and Film Independent.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 91 works
  2. 2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 83 works
  3. 3 Film IndependentUnited States 49 works
  4. 4 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 35 works
  5. 5 University of ExeterUnited Kingdom 32 works
  6. 6 University of YorkUnited Kingdom 31 works
  7. 7 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 30 works
  8. 8 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 28 works
  9. 9 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 28 works
  10. 10 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 28 works

Who are the leading researchers in Historical Economic and Social Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Historical Economic and Social Studies include Daron Acemoğlu, James G. Scott and Charles Tilly.

  1. 1 Daron Acemoğlu United States 5.7k citations
  2. 2 James G. Scott Australia 4.3k citations
  3. 3 Charles Tilly United States 3.7k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Historical Economic and Social Studies research done?

The largest centres of Historical Economic and Social Studies research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Oxford (United Kingdom), Cambridge (United Kingdom) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in St Andrews, York and Durham.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 199 works
  2. 2 Oxford United Kingdom 98 works
  3. 3 Cambridge United Kingdom 97 works
  4. 4 Paris France 84 works
  5. 5 Los Angeles United States 69 works
  6. 6 New York United States 57 works
  7. 7 Chicago United States 49 works
  8. 8 Washington D.C. United States 49 works
  9. 9 Manchester United Kingdom 39 works
  10. 10 Toronto Canada 35 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. St AndrewsGB · 22.9 works26×
  2. YorkGB · 32.6 works19×
  3. DurhamGB · 26.1 works17×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Historical Economic and Social Studies than the world average.

See Historical Economic and Social Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Historical Economic and Social Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Radboud University Nijmegen, George Mason University and University of Cambridge score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 21.69%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Radboud University Nijmegen: 10, 38.4%George Mason University: 17, 32.2%University of Cambridge: 91, 13.0%London School of Economics and Political Science: 35, 19.9%Leiden University: 16, 14.5%University of Oxford: 84, 9.9%Wageningen University & Research: 8, 29.3%Lund University: 18, 28.4%Uppsala University: 18, 19.8%University of Antwerp: 12, 11.5%Radboud University N…George Mason Univers…London School of Eco…University of Cambri…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands 68.038.4%6.1×10 +178.4%
2 George Mason UniversityUnited States 66.332.2%12.6×17 +44.0%
3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 66.113.0%20.5×91 -2.0%
4 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 65.619.9%35.9×35 +52.4%
5 Leiden UniversityNetherlands 64.514.5%11.3×16 +241.7%
6 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 63.69.9%16.0×84 +9.0%
7 Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 60.429.3%5.6×8 +215.3%
8 Lund UniversitySweden 59.828.4%7.5×18 +35.6%
9 Uppsala UniversitySweden 59.019.8%8.7×18 +74.4%
10 University of AntwerpBelgium 57.911.5%9.7×12 +170.5%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Historical Economic and Social Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Historical Economic and Social Studies.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.