Useful Information

You can see the detailed map of conference site and hotel (Link to CCWE website).

Forthcoming Asian Historical Economics Conference

The next AHEC conference, which will be the third one since it started in Hitotsubashi University in 2007, will be held on 19-21 May, 2010, in Beijing. It will be hosted by the Centre for China in the World Economy (CCWE), Tsinghua University. As shown in the preliminary program, 11 out of the 26 papers are on China and the conference will also include a round-table discussion after the paper program on how to promote economic analysis of Chinese history in future.

A Proposal for Asian Historical Economics Society

Steering Committee have proposed to set up the Asian Historical Economics Society (AHES) to promote economic research on Asian history. As proposed, AHES will function as a regular forum for economists and economic historians to present their work at annual conferences and publish their research papers in the proposed AHES journal in future. This proposal will be discussed in details by the Steering Committee at the Beijing Conference.

Today’s global economic development and integration through trade and investment are deeply rooted in history, particularly since the modern industrial development that started in Europe from the late 18th century. Understanding how the economies of all the major regions of Asia developed through their own internal dynamics, as well as through interaction with the western industrial powers, is important for understanding these economies today and in the future.

The conference in Beijing is the third in a series which began at Hitotsubashi University in 2007 and continued with the second conference at Venice in 2008. The aim of this third conference is to build upon the success of the earlier conferences and to work towards the establishment of a permanent organisation to facilitate future meetings on a regular basis. The new Asian Historical Economics Society will bring together researchers working on the economic history of all the main regions of Asia, who seek to break free from the constraints of both the older Eurocentric and the nationalistic, anti-colonialist literatures which have dominated the economic history of these regions. Work which makes us of quantitative and economic analysis is particularly encouraged.

The conference will build on a number of themes where research is currently active, including (but not restricted to): the Great Divergence between Asia and Europe; new interpretations of the colonial legacy; the role of institutions and institutional change; the development of traditional and modern industries; human capital, demographic transitions and migration; market integration and the impact of globalisation; historical national accounts for Asian economies; international comparison of income, output and productivity; international trade and industrialisation in Asian economies.