International Economic History Association


The International Economic History Association is an association of national, regional, and international organizations dedicated to the field of economic history, broadly defined. The IEHA includes 45 member organizations in 40 countries around the world. Headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands, the IEHA promotes the study of and facilitates collaboration on a variety of projects, publications, and initiatives. While the IEHA has origins in European historiographies, it has since expanded its scope and membership to include economies and scholars outside of traditional areas of research.
The IEHA is most well known for its triannual congress, the World Economic History Congress, an international and interdisciplinary event where over 1,000 economic historians convene each meeting to discuss trends in the field. Attendees of the conference include economists, historians, policymakers, heads of states, government ministers, and scholars of economic history.

History

Founding

At the height of the Cold War in 1960, the IEHA was founded to unite scholars in Western Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Among economists there were concerns of spurring and sustaining economic growth in many economic history departments in the United Kingdom and the United States. Similarly, Alexander Gerschenkron sought to build on Rostow's stages of economic growth with his research on economic backwardness. At the same time, the founding of the IEHA originally stemmed from the work of Fernand Braudel and Immanuel Wallerstein on economic growth in early modern Europe. Throughout the twentieth century, the IEHA gradually grew in size and the number of papers presented.
In 1968, the member organizations of the IEHA convened for the first meeting outside of Europe. The fourth meeting met in Bloomington, Indiana, United States.
By 2012, the organization expanded its global approach to the discipline by hosting its first conference outside of Europe. Around 750 attendees from 55 countries attended the World Economic History Congress in Stellenbosch, South Africa. European scholars at the conference were more interested in the North-South divide, thus facilitating the developing of African economic history as a whole. The conference was, in part, organized by the African Agenda, and boosted tourism to the local community. Academics have noted that the hosting of the Congress in Stellenbosch positioned the country to become one of the leading cenrtres of economic history on the African continent. The opening address, delivered by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, recognized the economic and political potential that the conference had for the South African economy.
The first Congress to convene in Asia took place in Kyoto, Japan in August 2015. Presentations focused less on European economies and more on Latin American and Asian economies. The meeting thus presented an important moment, not just for economic history, but also for global history. The conference led to the publication of Jörg Baten's A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to the Present that, according to one reviewer "was commissioned by the International Economic History Association and the editor states that his aim is to organize a 'non-Eurocentric history' that presents 'economic history in a balanced way.'"
In recent years, the organization has returned its focus to present-day questions. In 2018, President Anne McCants spoke of the importance of understanding globalization: its origins, its effects on inequality, and the importance of big data. At the congress, held in Boston, Massachusetts French economist Thomas Piketty and author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century described the World Economic History Congress as “one of the few places in the world where economists and historians talk to each other, and we truly need this interdisciplinary approach.” The IEHA produces an annual bulletin of conferences and meetings for economic historians.

Leadership

Former Presidents of the IEHA include:
Former Secretary Generals of the IEHA include:
The IEHA comprises three bodies. The General Assembly includes one representative from each member organization. The Executive Committee oversees the execution of decisions made by the General Assembly, and the Local Organizing Committees are responsible for running the World Economic History Congress.

Membership

The IEHA comprises 45 member organizations, including the following.
OrganizationLocationYear foundedWebsite
Business History ConferenceInternational1954
Cliometric SocietyInternational1960
European Business History AssociationInternational1993
European Historical Economics SocietyInternational1991
International Maritime Economic History AssociationInternational1986
International Social History AssociationInternational2005
Asociacion Argentina de Historia EconomicaAmericas
Associação Brasileira de Pesquisadores em História EconômicaAmericas
Canadian Network for Economic History/ Réseau canadien d'histoire économiqueAmericas
Economic History AssociationAmericas1940
Asociación Uruguaya de Historia EconómicaAmericas
Economic History Society of Australia and New ZealandAsia Pacific
Chinese Association for Economic History Studies, Chinese Academy of Social SciencesAsia Pacific
Indian Economic and Social History Association, Delhi School of Economics, University of DelhiAsia Pacific1963
Economic and Social History Association of Israel Asia Pacific
Korean Economic History Society, Chung-Ang UniversityAsia Pacific
Economic History Society of Southern AfricaAfrica
Austrian Economic and Social HistoriansEurope
Belgische Vereniging voor sociale en economische geschiedenis, University of GentEurope
Czech Economic History SocietyEurope
Danish Society for Economic and Social HistoryEurope
Finnish Economic History AssociationEurope
Association Française d'Histoire Économique Europe
Gesellschaft für Sozial- und WirtschaftsgeschichteEurope1961
Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte e.V.Europe1976
Greek Economic History SocietyEurope
Hungarian Economic History Association, Eötvös Loránd UniversityEurope
Economic and Social History Society of IrelandEurope1970
Società italiana degli storici dell'economia Europe
N.W. Posthumus Instituut, Radboud UniversiteitEurope2016
Norwegian Member OrganizationEurope
Committee on Economic History, Polish Academy of ScienceEurope
Portuguese Association of Economic and Social HistoryEurope
Commission on the History of the Economy and the History of Economic Thinking / Commission sur l'Histoire de l'Economie et l'Histoire de la Pensée Economique de l'Académie RoumaineEurope
National Committee of Historians, Russian Academy of ScienceEurope
Asociación Española de Historia EconómicaEurope1972
Swedish Economic History Association, Göteborg UniversityEurope
Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und SozialgeschichteEurope1974
Economic and Social History Foundation of TurkeyEurope
Economic History Society Europe1926

World Economic History Congress

Every four years, the IEHA hosts a World Economic History Congress on a particular topic in economic history. The meetings aim to bring together scholars who focus on to discuss present-day debates in the discipline. Past meetings include: The initial meetings were titled the International Conference and held in western European countries. The fifth meeting was held in Leningrad, Russia and, by the eighth meeting in Budapest, Hungary, the name was changed to the International Economic History Congress. The latter had over 850 economic historians from 88 countries participate. Its goal was to promote regulate debates in the international community of scholars. In 1994, the Eleventh International Economic History Congress in Milan, Italy had over 1,100 participants from more than 50 countries. The Congress has also been vital for the development of quantitative economic history, also known as cliometrics.
MeetingThemeLocationDateWebsite
First International Conference of Economic HistoryStockholm, Sweden1960
Second International Conference of Economic HistoryProvence, France1962
Third International Conference of Economic HistoryMunich, Germany1965
Fourth International Conference of Economic HistoryBloomington, Indiana, USA1968
Fifth International Conference of Economic HistoryLeningrad, Russia1970
Sixth International Congress of Economic HistoryCopenhagen, Denmark1974
Seventh International Congress of Economic HistoryEdinburgh, Scotland1978
Eighth International Economic History CongressBudapest, Hungary16–20 August 1982
Ninth International Economic History CongressBern, Switzerland1986
Tenth International Economic History CongressLeuven, BelgiumAugust 1990
Eleventh International Economic History CongressMilan, ItalySeptember 1994
Twelfth International Economic History CongressMadrid, SpainAugust 1998
XIII Congress of the International Economic History AssociationBuenos Aires, Argentina22–26 July 2002
XIV International Economic History CongressHelsinki, Finland21–25 August 2006
XV World Economic History CongressUtrecht, Netherlands3–7 August 2009
XVI World Economic History Congress“The Roots of Development”Stellenbosch, South Africa9–13 July 2012
XVII World Economic History Congress“Diversity in Development”Kyoto, Japan3–7 August 2015
XVIII World Economic History Congress“Waves of Globalization”Boston, Massachusetts, USA29 July – 3 August 2018
XIX World Economic History Congress"Resources"Paris, France25–30 July 2021