Founding Economic history as a discipline had declined in popularity throughout the 1980s. In 1989, Leandro Prados, then at the University of Santander, organized a World Congress of the
Cliometric Society. Subsequent discussions among leading economic historians, especially after the
Economic History Association in
Leuven in 1990, led to the idea that there was a desire for more research in
quantitative economic history. European economists noted the lack of a society dedicated to this new economic history, and so founded the EHES in 1991. Its first president was
Karl Gunnar Persson, a
professor at the
University of Copenhagen. The first conference in
Copenhagen in 1991 included research by
Angus Maddison (
University of Groningen),
Patrick O'Brien (
University of Durham),
Steve Broadberry (
Nuffield College,
Oxford University), Rainer Fremdling (
University of Groningen), Bart van Ark (
The Conference Board),
Giovanni Federico (
University of Pisa),
Jaime Reis (
University of Lisbon), Ingrid Henriksen (
University of Copenhagen), Vera Zamagni (
University of Bologna), Jean-Pierre Dormois (
European University Institute), Francesco Galassi (
University of Zurich) and
Albrecht Ritschl (
London School of Economics). In 1995, the EHES was registered with the
Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Present day The EHES has been recognized as one of the leaders in the study of pan-European scholarly research. They sponsor interdisciplinary research and cooperation on programs with the
Institute for Advanced Study, the
Economic History Society, the
Economic History Association, the History of Economics Society, and the Cliometric Society. Members of the EHES also have dual membership with the Cliometric Society and receive copies of the EHES's publication, the
European Review of Economic History. The society partners with other scholarly organizations including the
International Economic History Association, the
Centre for Economic Policy Research, and EuroGlobalNet.
Leadership Former presidents of the EHES include: •
Karl Gunnar Persson (
University of Copenhagen), 1991–96 • Gianni Toniolo (
University of Rome,
Duke University), 1996–97 •
Jaime Reis (
University of Lisbon), 1997–99 • James Foreman-Peck (
Cardiff University), 1999-2001 • Leandro Prados (
Carlos III University), 2001-2003 •
Sevket Pamuk (
London School of Economics and Political Science), 2003–05 • Lennart Schon, (
Lund University), 2005–07 • Marc Flandreau (
University of Pennsylvania,
Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development), 2007–09 •
Kevin O'Rourke (
All Souls College,
Oxford University), 2009–11 •
Steve Broadberry (
Nuffield College,
Oxford University), 2011–13 •
Giovanni Federico (
University of Pisa), 2013–15 •
Jörg Baten (
University of Tübingen), 2015–17 •
Pierre-Cyrille Hautcœur (
Paris School of Economics), 2017-2019 •
Herman de Jong (
University of Groningen), 2019- ==Events==