Program Overview

MSc Economic History (Research)

The MSc Economic History (Research) offers in-depth training, equipping students to research economic issues from a historical, interdisciplinary perspective.

Key Information

• Study mode: Home full-time students (12 months), Home part-time students (24 months), Overseas full-time students (12 months)
• Academic year: 2026/27
• Start date: 28 September 2026
• Location: Houghton Street, London
• Application deadline: None – rolling admissions

Overview

Introduction

The MSc Economic History (Research) provides in-depth training in economic history, preparing students to conduct research on key economic issues from a historical and interdisciplinary perspective.

• Students can choose from a wide range of elective courses in economic history, allowing them to compile a programme according to their interests and career goals.
• The programme includes a compulsory economic history course and the completion of a major research dissertation in an approved topic of the student's choice.
• Economic history combines the skills of the economist and statistician with those of the historian, political scientist, and sociologist.
• The programme provides a broad training in social science research methods and their application to historical study.

Preliminary Readings

The following is a list of general Economic History books that students might want to read before arriving at LSE:

• Acemoglu, D. and Robinson, J. (2012), Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, London: Profile.
• Allen, R.C. (2009), The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Austin, Gareth M. Markets, Slaves and States in West African History, c.1450 to the present (Cambridge: CUP 2013)
• Austin, Gareth M. & Kaoru Sugihara (eds.) Labour-intensive industrialisation in Global History (London: Routledge 2013).
• Baten, Joerg (2016), A History of the Global Economy. Cambridge.
• Broadberry, S. and O’Rourke, K. (eds.) (2010), The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Crafts, N.F.R. and Fearon, P. (2013), The Great Depression of the 1930s: Lessons for Today, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Darwin, J. (2007), After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, , London: Allen Lane.
• Engerman, Stanley L. & Kenneth L. Sokoloff Economic Development in the Americas since 1500: endowments and institutions (Cambridge: CUP/NBER 2012).
• Findlay, R. and O’Rourke, K. (2009), Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium (Princeton Economic History of the Western World), Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Floud, Roderick, Fogel, Robert, Harris, Bernard, and Hong, Sok Chul (2011), The Changing Body: health, nutrition, and human development in the western world since 1700. Cambridge.
• Greif, A. (2006) Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy: Lessons from Medieval Trade (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hatcher, J. and Bailey, M (2001), Modelling the Middle Ages: The History and Theory of England’s Economic Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Herschman, Albert O. (2013), The Passions and the Interests: political arguments for capitalism before its triumph. Princeton.
• King, Mervyn (2016), The End of Alchemy: money, banking and the future. Little, Brown.
• Livi-Bacci, Massimo (2012), A Concise History of Worl Population. Wiley Blackwell.
• Mackenzie, D (2006), An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
• Morgan, Mary S. (2012), The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• North, D.C., Wallis, J.J. and Weingast, B. (2009), Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History, Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.
• Parthasarathi, P. (2011), Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Divergence, , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Pomeranz, K. (2000), The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Reinhart, C.M. and Rogoff, K.S. (2009), This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Rosenthal, J-L and Wong, R. Bin (2011), Before and Beyond Divergence: The Politics of Economic Change in China and Europe, Harvard University Press.
• Roy, T. (2012), India in the World Economy: From Antiquity to the Present (New Approaches to Asian History), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Von Glahn, Richard (2016), The Economic History of China from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century (CUP)
• Yun-Casalilla, B. and O’Brien, P. (2011), The Rise of Fiscal States: A Global History, , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Entry Requirements

• Upper second class honours degree (2:1) or equivalent in social science.
• English language requirements: Research.

Programme Content

• The programme comprises one compulsory full unit, a dissertation, and optional courses selected from a prescribed list.
• This research track can be taken as a stand-alone qualification or as the first year of a research degree, followed by 3–4 years of MPhil/PhD.
• Courses:
  • EH4A1: Historical Analysis of Economic Change
  • EH496: Research Dissertation A: Contextualisation, Theory and Research Design
  • EH497: Research Dissertation B: Implementation, Analysis and Contribution
  • Optional courses to the value of one and a half units from a range of options.

Why Study with Us

• LSE is home to one of the largest specialist economic history departments in the world, with 25 permanent teaching staff.
• The department’s research interests range from social well-being to technology and finance, and from the history of economic ideas to global trade patterns.
• Many of the UK’s top employers give careers presentations at the School during the year.

Your Application

• We welcome applications from all suitably qualified prospective students.
• To apply, you must have an offer of a place and submit a Graduate Financial Support application before the funding deadline.
• The funding deadline for needs-based awards from LSE: 23 April 2026.

Fees and Funding

• Home student fee (2026/27): £18,300
• Overseas student fee (2026/27): £30,400
• Fee reduction: Students who completed undergraduate study at LSE and are beginning taught graduate study at the School are eligible for a fee reduction of around 10 per cent of the fee.
• Scholarships and other funding: We offer some needs-based awards for this programme, including the Graduate Support Scheme.

Learning and Assessment

• Teaching: Contact hours and independent study, with an average of 20-30 hours of contact hours per half unit.
• Assessment: Formative coursework and summative assessment, which may include essays, problem sets, case studies, reports, quizzes, and mock exams.

Graduate Destinations

• Economic history graduates can be found in management and administration in the public and private sectors, banking, journalism, economic consultancy, and library and museum services.
• Top 5 sectors our students work in:
  • Financial and Professional Services
  • Government, Public Sector and Policy
  • Accounting and Auditing
  • FMCG, Manufacturing and Retail
  • Real Estate, Environment and Energy

Related Programmes

• MSc Economic History
• MPhil/PhD Economic History
• MRes/PhD Economics
• MSc Financial History
• MSc Political Economy of Late Development
• MSc Philosophy of Economics and the Social Sciences
• MSc History of International Relations
• MSc Economy and Society
• MSc Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation