14th Meeting of the African Economic History Network

14th Annual Meeting of the African Economic History Network

“Global Dimensions of African Economic History”

Venue

The workshop venue is the Facultat d’Economia i Empresa (Faculty of Economics and Business), Universitat de Barcelona.

Conference venue

Transport and Accommodation

Pavellons de la finca Güell

Barcelona is served by the International Airport Barcelona -El Prat, which has two large terminal buildings: Terminal 1 (T1) and Terminal 2 (T2).

Metro: The most convenient way to reach the Faculty from the airport is taking Metro Line L9. The complete journey takes 32 minutes and runs every 7 minutes on weekdays. The final stop, “Zona Universitària”, leaves you in front of the Faculty. The cost is 4.60€ single way (the T-10 multi-person public transport card will not allow you to take the metro from the airport).

Shuttle Aerobus: runs every 10 minutes and takes 30 min. to get to the city. Single ticket: 5.90€. Return ticket: €10.20 (valid 15 days).

Taxis are also a good option, especially if you share: 35€ approx. to the city centre. Information about fares and additional charges are available to view on the window of the taxi. Taxi fares include a service charge, so tipping is not expected. Not all taxis accept credit card payments; verify whether credit cards are accepted before leaving the airport.

Train: RENFE train line “R2 Nord” connects airport T2 with the city center. The train station is situated opposite T2, and is connected to this terminal via a footbridge (https://www.aeropuertobarcelona-elprat.com/ingl/accesos_aeropuerto_tren4010.htm). There is a free shuttle bus service between T2 and T1 (https://www.aeropuertobarcelona-elprat.com/ingl/connections-between-terminals-barcelona.htm). The train runs every 30 minutes and takes around 25 minutes to get to the city center. The cost is 4.10€ for a single trip, but you can also take the train by using a 10-trip multi-person public transport card (T-10) which costs 10.20€ and will allow you to then take the metro. In order to reach the Faculty: take the “R2 Nord” train, stop at “Barcelona Sants” train station and change to the metro, where you can take the green line (L3) towards “Zona Universitària”, which is the last stop in L3 and leaves you in front of the Faculty.

From the city: The following transit lines have routes that pass near Avinguda Diagonal 690 - Metro: L3; Buses: H6, 7, 33, 67, 75, 113 (metro and bus stops “Palau Reial” or “Zona Universitaria”); Tramway: lines T1, T2, T3 (Palau Reial).

Further information: https://www.tmb.cat/en/home

Accommodation

You can find several hotels and cheaper student accommodation around the conference area. Various options can be found at the usual websites: AirbnB, Booking.com and also:

Barcelona Tourist Guide
Barcelona Centre Universitari (BCU)

Residences and hotels nearby:
Barcelona Torre Girona Residence Hall
Barcelona Diagonal Residence Hall
Atenea Barcelona Aparthotel
Arenas Atiram 4 (near the Camp Nou)
Hotel Upper Diagonal
Hotel Bonanova Park
Hotel NH Barcelona Stadium

Residence in the city center:
Barcelona Residència d'Investigadors

Faculty of Economics and Business

This meeting has been made possible by the generous support of:

Local Organizing Committee

Jordi Caum Julio, Gabriele Cappelli, Pablo Fernández Cebrián, Alfonso Herranz Loncán, Aurelia Mañé Estrada, Federico Tadei

http://www.ub.edu/histeco/aehn2019/

Keynotes

Keynote One: Leandro Prados de la Escosura

Professor of Economic History at Universidad Carlos III, Madrid
Leandro Prados de la Escosura (D. Phil. Modern History, Oxford University, and Ph.D. Economics, Universidad Complutense, Madrid) is Professor of Economic History at Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Research Associate at the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), and a Corresponding Fellow of Spain’s Royal Academy of History. He currently holds the Honorary Maddison Chair at the University of Groningen. He has taught at Georgetown University (Prince of Asturias Professor) and the University of California, San Diego. He has been Leverhulme Professor at the London School of Economics and Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, and the LSE, and a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence. He served as President of the European Historical Economics Society [EHES] and as a Trustee of the Cliometric Society and EHES. He has contributed to the main journals in economic history and published and edited books on long-run growth and retardation in Spain, the economic consequences of Latin American independence, the costs and benefits of European imperialism, British exceptionalism at the time of the Industrial Revolution and economic freedom and wellbeing in historical perspective. He is currently finishing a new book, Human Development in the Modern World, for Cambridge University Press.

Lost Decades? A glance Beyond GDP
In their seminal paper on postcolonial comparative performance in Africa and Latin America, Bates, Coatsworth, and Williamson (2007) adventured a promising future for Africa: relative political stability and economic growth but, perhaps, not at a high social cost, as in the case of Latin America. Now, with half-a-century hindsight this keynote talk will examine the Africa’s postcolonial experience from a capabilities perspective in terms of health, education, and democracy.

Keynote Two: Elise Huillery

Professor at the University Paris-Dauphine
Elise Huillery is Professor at the University Paris‐Dauphine and research affiliate at J‐PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab), LIEPP (Laboratoire interdisciplinaire d’évaluation des politiques publiques), and EUDN (European Development Network). She received a PhD in economics from the Paris School of Economics and was then an Assistant Professor at Sciences Po before joining Paris-Dauphine as a Full Professor in 2016. Her research focuses on the determinants of poverty and inequalities mostly in Africa and in France, as well as public policies that can reduce it. She has worked in collaboration with governments in several countries with the aim to help design and evaluate the impact of social policies related to health, labor and education. She also conducts research on the history of the former French colonies with the objective of providing statistical evidence on colonization and its long term impacts on African development.

Colonial Origins of Civil Conflicts: Early Leaders' Personality in French West Africa
This keynote will discuss the role of leaders and their personality in shaping state capacity and civil conflicts. It will review the existing evidence as well as present new evidence based on colonial history in French West Africa. It will be argued that the earliest leaders of the colonial era made key decisions in building local government that varied due to their personality traits. These attitudes and decisions led to variation in the local population’s hostility towards the colonial government. Using arguably arbitrary assignment of district leaders, this keynote talk will show that the personality of the first district leaders affect colonial hostility, and such hostility leads to more modern civil conflicts.