The three-dayAsian Historical Economics Conference 2010 was held at the SEM, hosted by the Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE), co-organized by the University of Warwick, Hitotsubashi University,China Association of Historical Economics andthe Institute of Economics of Peking University.

This conference was the third in a series of events which began at Hitotsubashi University in 2007 and continued with the second conference at Venice in 2008. The aim of this third conference was to build upon the success of the earlier conferences, analyzing the long-term economic development pattern in China, India and Japan, and to work toward the establishment of a permanent organization facilitating future meetings on a regular basis.

The new organization, namely Asian Historical Economics Society, will bring together researchers working on the economic history of main regions in Asia. It seeks to break free from the constraints of the older Eurocentric and the more recent nationalistic, anti-colonialist literatures that have dominated the economic history of these regions.

The 26 research papers presented at the conference focused on a number of themes: 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 globalization; historical national accounts for Asian economies; international comparison of income, output and productivity; and international trade and industrialization in Asian economies.

Professor QIAN Yingyi, Dean of Tsinghua SEM, welcomed the audience at the beginning of the event. LIU Guoguang, an influential Chinese economist, also spoke to congratulate the conference. Keynote speakers of the meeting include ZHANGDonggang, Vice Director General of the Department of Social Sciences under the Ministry of Education, DONG Zhikai, Chair of China Association of Historical Economics, HUANG Guitian, Associate Dean of Peking University’s School of Economics andProfessor Steve Broadberry of University of Warwick.

During the conference, a special condolence was also led by Professor Harry Wu of Hitotsubashi University to commemorate Angus Maddison, a world prominent historical economist who passed away recently. (Source: CCWE)