The event took place at the Student Hub Seminar Room 2 (0G.039B) and showcased first year PhD projects from Queen’s University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin.
13.00 – 14.00 Keynote Student
Organising collective action. On the origins of the German model of industrial relations – Iris Wohnsiedler
This paper studies the emergence of the German industrial relations model and its sectoral bargaining system in the early 20th century. Utilising administrative statistics from the universe of labour strikes in Imperial Germany (1899-1905), we track strike activity by location, sector, date, and type of organisation. We identify two primary types of organisations during this period: centralised unions and radical, local movements. We employ dynamic spatial panel data regression to estimate the impact of strikes in one town on the occurrence of strikes in nearby towns, demonstrating how non-centrally organised protests spilled over more locally, while centralised unions coordinated strikes across regions but within sectors. Additionally, we show how centralised union activities, such as publishing newspapers, forming associations, and conducting annual meetings, were employed to limit strike outbreaks. By presenting evidence that collective bargaining agreements became more prevalent in sectors with centralised unions, we demonstrate that centralised unions exchanged control over strike activity for wage gains with employers.
14.00 Break
14.30 – 16.30 PhD Project Presentations
Hong Kong Banking Crises 1870-2010: Identification, Causes and Impact – Yibin Liu
Hong Kong, despite being a leading global financial market for decades, its financial history remains underexplored. The research aims at identifying the banking crisis in Hong Kong using (1) The number of banking failures (2) Stock price (3) Narrative evidence from newspaper and investigate the reasons as well as impact of the crises using VAR regressions. The research hopes to reveal the chronology of Hong Kong banking crises under consistent definitions and discover the pattern of these crises.
Renewable Energy in the Industrial Revolution: The Role of Water Power for Economic Development in Early Industrial Germany – Malte Hinrichs
The research project aims to investigate the role of water power in the early industrialization of Prussia during the first half of the 19th century, using detailed historical census data. It seeks to quantitatively analyze the impact of water power utilization on regional development and human capital accumulation.
Who said “love, honour and carry water”? Gender-biased technology adoption in Ireland – Míde Griffin
This research explores the role of women’s community organisation in the adoption of running water technology in the 1960s-1980s after the arrival of electricity to rural Ireland, and the opposing lobby from male farmers’ organisations.
Social mobility and exits from apprenticeship training: evidence from early modern Genoa – Alessandro Brioschi
This study uses a novel database of 8,000 apprenticeship contracts to analyse the outcomes of apprenticeship training in early modern Genoa. I find that the probability of becoming a master for a given apprentice was significantly dependent on having a father active in the city and by the trade in which training took place. My findings offer new material to current debates on the determinants of successful labour outcomes in Western societies.
16.30 – 17.30 Drinks reception
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