The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy brings together scholars who are working on essential and field-shaping topics in this burgeoning area. Historical Political Economy (HPE) is the study of how political and economic actors and institutions have interacted over time. It differs from much of economic history in that it focuses on the causes and consequences of politics. It departs from much of conventional political economy in that its context is strictly historical, even if/when it has implications for contemporary political economy. It also departs from much of history in its use of social-scientific theory and methods. Thus, while HPE involves elements of the traditional fields of economics, political economy, and history, it is separate from-and integrative of-them.
The Handbook includes contributions from leading scholars in political science, economics, sociology, and history. The first section summarizes the state of the field and provides an overview of the data and techniques typically used by HPE scholars. Subsequent chapters survey major HPE research areas in political economy, political science, and economics, as well as the long-run economic, political, and social consequences of historical political economy.
Various chapters in the Handbook will be of interest to economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians, legal scholars, and public policy scholars who study political-economy issues and topics from a historical perspective. There are currently not many forums for scholars in these fields to interact and share ideas. The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy ameliorates this issue, cutting across disciplinary lines and reducing the barriers to interdisciplinary discussions.

Jeffery A. Jenkins is a political scientist at the University of Southern California interested in American national institutions. Two of his recent books include: Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968 (2020) with Boris Heersink-which won the 2021 V. O. Key Award and the 2021 J. David Greenstone Prize-and Congress and the First Civil Rights Era, 1861-1918 (2021) with Justin Peck-which won the 2023 V. O. Key Award. He was Editor in Chief of The Journal of Politics (2015-2020) and recently started two new journals: the Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy (2020) and the Journal of Historical Political Economy (2021).
Jared Rubin is a professor of economics at Chapman University. His research focuses on historical relationships between political and religious institutions and their role in economic development. He is the author of two recent books, How the World Became Rich (with Mark Koyama, 2022) and Rulers, Religion, and Riches (2017). Rubin is Co-Director of Chapman University's Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics and Society and President of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture.

I. Historical Political Economy: An Overview
1. Historical Political Economy: What Is it?
Jeffery A. Jenkins, University of Southern California
Jared Rubin, Chapman University
2. Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Historical Political Economy
Tracy Dennison, California Institute of Technology
Scott Gehlbach, University of Chicago
3. Data in Historical Political Economy
Alexandra Cirone, Cornell University
4. Causal Inference and Knowledge Accumulation in Historical Political Economy
Anna Callis, University of California, Berkeley
Thad Dunning, University of California, Berkeley
Guadalupe Tuñón, Princeton University
5. Networks in Historical Political Economy
Adam Slez, University of Virginia
6. Formal Models and Historical Political Economy
Sean Gailmard, University of California, Berkeley
7. Historical Persistence
Avidit Acharya, Stanford University
Matthew Blackwell, Harvard University
Maya Sen, Harvard University
II. How States are Organized
8. Democracy and Historical Political Economy
David Stasavage, New York University
9. Historical Political Economy of Autocracy
Evgeny Finkel, Johns Hopkins University
Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University
10. Dynasties in Historical Political Economy
Brenda van Coppenolle, University of Essex
Daniel Smith, Columbia University
11. State Building in Historical Political Economy
Francisco Garfias, University of California, San Diego
Emily Sellars, Yale University
12. The Size of Polities in Historical Political Economy
Chiaki Moriguchi, Hitotsubashi University
Tuan-Hwee Sng, National University of Singapore
13. State Capacity in Historical Political Economy
Mark Dincecco, University of Michigan
Yuhua Wang, Harvard University
14. Legal Capacity in Historical Political Econ
Mark Koyama, George Mason University
15. Political Legitimacy in Historical Political Economy
Avner Greif, Stanford University
Jared Rubin, Chapman University
III. Components of the State
16. Rules in Historical Political Economy
John Wallis, University of Maryland
17. Historical Political Economy of Legislative Power
Gary Cox, Stanford University
18. Courts: A Political Economy Perspective
Tom S. Clark, Emory University
Georg Vanberg, Duke University
19. Bureaucracies in Historical Political Economy
Jan P. Vogler, University of Konstanz
20. The Historical Political Economy of Political Parties
Jeffery A. Jenkins, University of Southern California
Christopher Kam, University of British Columbia
21. Electoral Systems in Historical Political Economy
Daniele Caramani, European University Institute, Florence, and University of Zurich
22. Property Rights in Historical Political Economy
Lee Alston, Indiana University
Bernardo Mueller, University of Brasília
23. Suffrage in Historical Political Economy
Walker Hanlon, Northwestern University
24. Trade Policy in Historical Political Economy
Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth College
25. Taxation: A Historical Political Economy Approach
Pablo Beramendi, Duke University
IV. Long-Run Legacies
26. Economic Development in Historical Political Economy
Jose Morales-Arilla, Princeton University
Joan Ricart-Huguet, Loyola University Maryland
Leonard Wantchekon, Princeton University
27. The Historical Political Economy of Nationalism
Carles Boix, Princeton University
28. Long-Run Economic Legacies of Colonialism
Jenny Guardado, Georgetown University
29. The Historical Political Economy of Globalization
Kevin O'Rourke, New York University Abu Dhabi
30. Civil and Ethnic Conflict in Historical Political Economy
Saumitra Jha, Stanford University
31. The Historical Political Economy of Financial Crises
Marc Weidenmier, Chapman University
32. The Corporation and the State in Historical Political Economy
Ron Harris, Tel Aviv University
33. Electoral Malfeasance in Historical Political Economy
Isabela Mares, Yale University
34. Assimilation in Historical Political Economy
Vasiliki Fouka, Stanford University
V. The State and Society
35. Race and Historical Political Economy
David Bateman, Cornell University
Jake Grumbach, University of Washington
Chloe Thurston, Northwestern University
36. In Search of Gender in Historical Political Economy
Dawn Teele, Johns Hopkins University
Pauline Grosjean, University of New South Wales
37. Identity in Historical Political Economy
Pavithra Suryanarayan, London School of Economics and Political Science
Steven White, Syracuse University
38. Historical Political Economy of Migration
Volha Charnysh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
39. The Urban-Rural Divide in Historical Political Economy
Jonathan Rodden, Stanford University
40. Immigration in Historical Political Economy
Margaret Peters, University of California, Los Angeles
41. Market and Government Provision of Safety Nets and Social Welfare Spending in Historical Political Economy
Price Fishback, University of Arizona
42. The Historical Political Economy of Education
Agustina Paglayan, University of California, San Diego
43. Health in Historical Political Economy
James Feigenbaum, Boston University
44. Culture in Historical Political Economy
Sara Lowes, University of California, San Diego
45. Church, State, and Historical Political Economy
Sascha O. Becker, Monash University
Steven Pfaff, University of Washington