How much better is life today than it was in the past? And do we always need income growth to improve welfare? This summer school is devoted to exploring a new research avenue that uses broad indicators of human welfare and the standard of living to measure levels and growth of economic well-being worldwide. During the last centuries economic growth, as conventionally measured by gross domestic product per capita, has shown big swings and long periods of disappointing performance. But at the same time in many countries people became on average healthier, taller, and older, and are enjoying increasing leisure time. Historical research into the human condition and level of living has revealed considerable growth trends in the general biological standard of living of world citizens. To understand this paradox of sometimes disappointing economic outcomes and favourable changes in the human condition, we need to re-examine and analyse indicators of human well-being such as economic living standards and broader human development standards. This summer school focuses on the comparative study of income growth and will study its causal relationship with inequality, health, and leisure, which are widely seen as crucial indicators in the measurement of economic welfare. The summer school is endorsed by the European Historical Economics Society. It is hosted by the Groningen Growth and Development Centre, a research centre affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Business. The Summer School will last for 5 days and will include lectures of key-speakers such as Prof. Jan Luiten van Zanden (University of Utrecht) and Prof. Leandro Prados de la Escosura (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid). The afternoon sessions will be devoted to presentations and discussions of the research topics of the participants (doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers).

Course leader
Prof. Dr. Herman de Jong, University of Groningen

Target group
PhD students and scholars who recently completed their doctorate

Fee info
EUR 200: Fee includes housing

University of Groningen
Address: Broerstraat 5 Groningen
Postal code: 9721 CP
City: Groningen
Country: Netherlands
Website: http://rug.nl/summerschools
E-mail: summerschools@rug.nl
Phone: 0031 6 28216256