History

Economic History broke away from History, establishing itself as a subject in its own right at the beginning of the 1950s, and came under the umbrella of the Faculty of Social Sciences when the latter was formed in 1963. The first professor was Artur Attman (1954) followed by Lars Herlitz in 1977, who was in turn succeeded after his retirement by Ulf Olsson in 1994. On the retirement of the latter, Christer Lundh was appointed Professor in charge of the Department¿s research and research education in 2006.

For many years the Department was housed in the Union of Clerical Employees building at Stora Nygatan in the very center of the city. After brief sojourns in other premises, the Department has been in its present home, the Spångbergska fastigheten, since 1991. The building dates back to 1858 and belongs to the Faculty of Social Sciences. Hence, we are well situated close to the Economics Library and the rest of the School of Business, Economics and Law, which we have been a part of since 1990.

The Department has largely offered independent courses over the years, but it has also provided courses as part of study programmes for teachers, economists and spatial and social planners. In relation to its size, the Department¿s research and research education have been quite considerable. More than 50 Ph.D candidates have been examined since the mid-1960s, and the number has doubled in the last decade.