Thor Berger

@thorberger.bsky.social

1.6K followers 560 following 36 posts

Economic Historian. Pro Futura Scientia Fellow XVI at Swedish Collegium (Uppsala University), Associate Professor at Lund University, and Research Affiliate at the CEPR and IFN.

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Economics 43%

Sociology 21%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Thor Berger

The Quarterly Journal of Economics @qjeharvard.bsky.social · 2d

Recently accepted by #QJE, “Enlightenment Ideals and Belief in Progress in The Run-up to the Industrial Revolution: A Textual Analysis,” by Almelhem, Iyigun, Kennedy, and Rubin (@jaredcrubin): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

Enlightenment Ideals and Belief in Progress in The Run-up to the Industrial Revolution: A Textual Analysis*

Abstract. We trace the evolution of the language of science, religion, and political economy in the centuries leading to the British Industrial Revolution.

doi.org

Reposted by Thor Berger

Department of Economics and Statistics, Linnaeus University @linnaeus-econ.bsky.social · 18d

Today @erikprawitz.bsky.social gave a seminar on "Cities and the Rise of Working Women" at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) 👏

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Erik Prawitz, Associate Professor at Linnaeus University and Research Fellow at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), for an engaging… | Economic...

www.linkedin.com

Reposted by Thor Berger

Sascha O. Becker @essobecker.bsky.social · 25d

See you in Uppsala 🇸🇪 🎉

erikprawitz.bsky.social @erikprawitz.bsky.social · 25d

Happy to announce a 4th edition of the Workshop in Economic History in Uppsala, with the great @essobecker.bsky.social as keynote! Workshop takes places on May 28-29, 2026, in Uppsala. Apply by January 31, 2026.

Here is the Cfp: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6xdmp...

www.dropbox.com

Reposted by Sascha O. Becker, Kris Inwood, Thor Berger

erikprawitz.bsky.social @erikprawitz.bsky.social · 25d

www.dropbox.com

Reposted by Mark D. White, Kris Inwood, Noel D. Johnson , and 2 more Mark D. White, Kris Inwood, Noel D. Johnson, Matthias Schmelzer, Thor Berger

Erik Angner @erikangner.com · Oct 13

That's like four economics awards in a row with a substantial economic-history component, right? That strikes me as a remarkable shift. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists...

Reposted by Thor Berger

NBER @nber.org · Feb 27

Examining the social construction of race during the US Reconstruction Era finds that people with the same skin tone were racialized based on their wealth, setting a path for racial stratification, from @aadukia.bsky.social, Hornbeck, Keniston, and Lualdi https://www.nber.org/papers/w33502

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Jan 30

Awesome!

Reposted by Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, Thor Berger

William Skoglund @skoglundw.bsky.social · Jan 30

I published my first paper, read it, cite it, love it!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Union wage effects in Sweden: Evidence from the interwar period

In this paper, I use a new plant-level dataset to investigate the relationship between wages and the regional strength of unions. Using a shift-share …

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by John D. Turner, Arnab Bhattacharjee, Thor Berger

Chris Colvin @cliochris.bsky.social · Jan 28

New working paper alert: "Financing Innovation: The Role of Patent Examination". @steve-bill-econ.bsky.social, Christopher Coyle and I have been working on this for quite a while now. We are excited to have a full draft for your enjoyment! www.quceh.org.uk/uploads/1/0/...

Financing Innovation: The Role of Patent Examination.

Stephen D. Billington, Christopher L. Colvin and Christopher Coyle.

How does patent examination influence access to finance for innovative firms? We exploit a reform to the UK’s patent system that introduced substantive examination to the patent application process, improving the information available to potential investors on the value of firms’ patents. Using a newly compiled firm-level dataset of exchange-listed corporations, we find that firms holding examined patents were able to borrow more, reflecting improved access to capital markets, and leading to firm growth. Our results highlight the role of patent examination in reducing information asymmetries, enhancing the signalling value of patents, and mitigating financial barriers to innovation.

Reposted by Mark E. Schaffer, Thor Berger

Sascha O. Becker @essobecker.bsky.social · Jan 22

🚨 New Working Paper 🚨

w/ @pdavidboll.bsky.social and @jvoth.bsky.social

Do you run regressions on spatial data? Then keep reading!

We present a guide and Stata package for methods by Müller and Watson (2024 ECTA) to deal with Spatial Unit Roots in Regressions.

Link in 🧵 (1/n)

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Jan 17

Thanks for the clarification @alexanderdonges.bsky.social!

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Jan 16

I thought several German states had general incorporation laws already in the 1860s and that it became Reich law from 1871? I also think I recall talks about a "Gründerboom" in the early 1870s as a result of the legislative changes?

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Jan 16

Why do firms in poor countries not adopt new technologies? One reason: they're too small. We show in a recent paper that the "invention" of the the modern corporate form historically enabled marginal firms to grow and adopt new technologies. Paper forthcoming in the JEH and @voxeu.org column here:

Institutional innovation and the adoption of new technologies

A key barrier to economic development is that while new technologies can offer substantial productivity gains, firms in poorer countries often do not adopt them. This column uses firm-level data to track the adoption of the key technology of the 19th century – the steam engine – during Sweden’s rapid industrial take-off. Much like in many developing countries today, Swedish firms were generally too small to profitably adopt the new technology. The authors document the central role of an institutional innovation – the modern corporation – and demonstrate that when firms were given the opportunity to incorporate, they expanded and adopted steam technology.

cepr.org

Reposted by Olof Åslund, Randi Hjalmarsson, Joacim Tå̊g , and 1 more Olof Åslund, Randi Hjalmarsson, Joacim Tå̊g, Thor Berger

mkaradja.bsky.social @mkaradja.bsky.social · Nov 28

We are organizing the 3rd edition of our Workshop in Economic History organized in beautiful Uppsala on May 22-23, 2025 with a keynote by
Elias Papaioannou! Call for papers with submission link: tinyurl.com/49tah8zd

Reposted by Thor Berger

Department of Economics and Statistics, Linnaeus University @linnaeus-econ.bsky.social · Nov 29

New Publication! 🎉 Congratulations to @erikprawitz.bsky.social and @thorberger.bsky.social for publishing their paper "Inventors among the 'Impoverished Sophisticate'" in the prestigious Journal of Economic History! 🤩

Inventors among the “Impoverished Sophisticate” | The Journal of Economic History | Cambridge Core

Inventors among the “Impoverished Sophisticate” - Volume 84 Issue 4

www.cambridge.org

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Nov 27

Thanks for your interest, Alice - I'll send you a copy!

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Nov 21

Maybe 19th-century technological change wasn't deskilling after all:

Reposted by Thor Berger

Projekt Runeberg @runeberg-org.bsky.social · Nov 20

När klockan är 12 i Stockholm, hvad är den då på andra orter i Sverige? Nödvändig kunskap 1858 eller bara ett kuriosum? runeberg.org/svea/1858/02... Västra stambanan invigdes 1862. Enhetlig normaltid infördes 1879.

Reposted by Thor Berger

Sascha O. Becker @essobecker.bsky.social · Nov 20

Today and tomorrow we will celebrate the life and work of the late Nick Crafts ❤️

Nick was a fantastic colleague, friend, and founding director of @cagewarwick.bsky.social

Today's Crafts Lecture will be given by the wonderful Leah Boustan.

Full program 👇

warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/econ...

Reposted by Thor Berger

Projekt Runeberg @runeberg-org.bsky.social · Nov 17

Göran Greider har 660 följare (@gorangreider.bsky.social). Expressens kulturchef Victor Malm har dubbelt så många (@victormalm.bsky.social), men Projekt Runeberg (@runeberg-org.bsky.social) har ännu bara ett ensiffrigt antal. Hur ska vi ändra på det? Dela vidare!

Reposted by Marc Deloof, Thor Berger

Reposted by Ashwini Deshpande, Thor Berger

Pseudoerasmus @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social · Nov 16

For the people from Twitter following my advert for this place, here are the guideposts / ‘starter packs’:

Economic History Starter Packs (2)

bsky.app/starter-pack...

bsky.app/starter-pack...

Growth & Development Starter Pack

bsky.app/starter-pack...

Reposted by Lawrence F. Katz, Thor Berger

The Quarterly Journal of Economics @qjeharvard.bsky.social · Nov 16

Recently accepted by #QJE, “War Reparations, Structural Change, and Intergenerational Mobility,” by Matti Mitrunen: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

War Reparations, Structural Change, and Intergenerational Mobility*

Abstract. From 1944 to 1952, largely agrarian Finland had to export, on average, 4% of its yearly GDP in industrial products to the Soviet Union as war rep

doi.org

Reposted by Thor Berger

Journal of Political Economy @jpolecon.bsky.social · Nov 15

Why do new technologies take so long to be adopted? This article from the Journal of Political Economy answers this question by analyzing the adoption of mechanized cotton spinning during the first French industrial revolution. Read it here: ow.ly/1AjG50TYrMw #EconSky

Thor Berger @thorberger.bsky.social · Nov 15

Finns det någon vettig data (utöver typ antalet hästar) på det för 1800-talet?

Reposted by Thor Berger

Reposted by Kim Oosterlinck, John D. Turner, Graham Brownlow , and 1 more Kim Oosterlinck, John D. Turner, Graham Brownlow, Thor Berger

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