Postdoc on the Effect of Societal Transitions in History on Living Standards

Utrecht University’s economic and social history group is looking to recruit a postdoctoral researcher to reconstruct changes in living standards during transitions and rapid shifts in social-economic organisation of societies. As a postdoc you will be part of the project “The Good Society”, which is funded by a Spinoza premium.

Your job

This project will as a first step identify interesting cases of societal transition in history. Examples include a society that saw the decline of manorialism in the late Middle Ages (such as England in the fourteenth century), or the emergence of an associative order (Flanders in the fourteenth century), or the rise of a market economy (e.g., the Low Countries in in sixteenth century). More recent examples are the emergence of state coordination (Scandinavian countries in the twentieth century), the development of an associative order (the Netherlands, Germany or Austria in the mid-twentieth century), or the shift to and from a planned economy (e.g. the Soviet Union in the first half of the twentieth century or China in the second half of the twentieth century).

Next, the researcher will reconstruct for a few selected cases the development of living standards during this transition. The project takes a broad perspective on living standards, including real wages, education, height/stature, life expectancy, etc. Stature in particular is an interesting proxy for living standards as it is available for most areas and periods throughout history.

The final goal of the project is to find out how living standards developed during these changes in social-economic organisation within a society. This requires a long-term analysis, preferably of a comparative nature, to capture changes over time and differences between societies. The latter will also enable the postdoc to make a first step in identifying possible (causal) links between changes in living standards and social-economic organisation.

The output of the project consists both of datasets on living standards and academic papers analysing the link between living standards and societal organisation.

Your qualities

You could be the right fit for this position if you have:

• a PhD in economic history, economics, sociology, or a related discipline;
• the historical and quantitative skills to construct and analyse historical datasets;
• the ability to write academic publications as well as publications aimed at wider dissemination of research;
• an interest in history, in particular the long-run development of economies, societies and living standards;
• an excellent command of spoken and written English;
• a team spirit and experience working in an interdisciplinary, international setting.

Our offer

• A position for 12 months, with an extension to a total of 36 months in total after a positive evaluation;
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €4,537 and €5,013 (salary scale 11 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.