Cliometrics Conferences, 2003, 2004, and 2005

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The Cliometrics Conference brings together scholars performing frontier research in the study of the history of the world's economies. Each year a group of 40 to 50 scholars who specialize in the application of economics and statistics to the study of the history of economies are invited to the conference. The conference is designed to give scholars feedback on their research. We urge scholars to submit papers that are in relatively early stages of development. At the typical conference twelve papers are selected for presentation and the papers are printed and distributed to all of the participants in advance. All participants agree to read all of the papers and attend all of the sessions. At the opening of the session for each paper, the person who wrote the paper has five minutes to introduce the paper and then the floor is opened for an intensive discussion by all of the participants. Those who present their research at the conference often suggest that the experience is like listening to 15 to 30 referees in one setting. Thus, the scholar has an opportunity to get feedback from leading scholars in the field in this setting. Scholars who attend but do not present papers often find that they get helpful insights on their own research from discussions with other participants during breaks and meals at the conference, as well as during the actual sessions. Often, the discussions of the papers also expand the breadth of knowledge for participants who do not specialize in specific subfields of economic history. Another goal of the conference is to provide a forum for scholars new to the field to get exposure for their research and to meet more established scholars. Typically, about 15 to 30 percent of the participants are assistant professors who recently received their degrees or are advanced graduate students in the latter stages of writing a dissertation. The Cliometrics Conference plays an important role in improving and disseminating research on the history of the world's economies. The meetings bring together researchers in intimate sessions where active discussion of economic history research is the rule. As a result, both established scholars and scholars new to the field obtain extensive feedback on their own research and also learn about new research by others. The conference helps to speed the process of bringing research from its early stages to final publication. Further, the conference serves to disseminate the results more widely, as descriptions of the discussion are published and disseminated on the world-wide web. The research discussed at the conference typically provides historical context for current public policy issues, including globalization, the role of government in the economy, technological change and its impact on the economy, financial markets, and a host of other topics related to economies.