EconHist: a relational database for analyzing the evolution of economic history (1980–2019)

Abstract

Abstract Since the cliometric revolution, the future of economic history has been discussed in relation to its supposedly increasing integration with economics and other disciplines. Any well-grounded argument in this regard would require a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the scientific production of economic historians in recent decades. This article provides a systematic method for collecting and analyzing the scientific production—in the form of indexed articles—of a broad and representative sample of authors who identify themselves as economic historians. From this sample, we have built EconHist, a relational database that contains the bibliometric information provided by Scopus, and the biographical information from authors’ curricula vitae between 1980 and 2019. Finally, we show the opportunities and difficulties related to the design and development of such a database.