PD:Història Econòmica de l'Empresa

Teaching plan for the course unit

(Short version)

Català

English

General information

Course unit name: Economic History of the Firm

Course unit code: 363710

Academic year: 2025-2026

Coordinator: Miguel Gutierrez Poch

Department: Department of Economic History, Institutions and Policy and World Economy

Credits: 6

Single program: S

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

Face-to-face and/or online activities

	- Lecture with practical component	Face-to-face		45
	- Group tutorial	Face-to-face		15

Supervised project

Independent learning

Learning objectives

Referring to knowledge

The course aims to achieve two main goals. First, it seeks to provide a dynamic vision of the firm by analysing its long-term development across a range of diverse economies. Second, it aims to offer analytical tools to understand the relationship between firms and economic growth, with a particular emphasis on what might be termed organisational competitive advantage.

To meet these two objectives, the course combines broader conceptual analyses with case studies of the trajectories of leading firms. The course adopts a long-term, international perspective on the analysis of the firm.

Teaching blocks

1. Introduction

1.1. Business, entrepreneurs and economic growth

2. Family firms and SMEs: from the First Industrial Revolution to the present-day

2.1. Family firms, networks and districts in the First Industrial Revolution

2.2. Family firms and SMEs in contemporary economies

3. The rise and development of large modern firms in Western economies

3.1. The rise of large firms in the United States

3.2. The development of large firms in Western economies

4. Firms in emerging economies

4.1. Business systems in the Far East

4.2. Other emerging economies

5. Firms and international business

5.1. International production

Official assessment of learning outcomes

The content of the lectures and tutorial sessions are assessed as follows:

1. The concepts covered in the lectures and the course handbook are assessed in a compulsory final examination. Students are required to answer three of the five question set. Of these five, two are compulsory and three are optional. The maximum mark students can obtain on the exam is 6 points (60% of the final grade).

2. The activities associated with the tutorial sessions are evaluated according to the student’s performance on each activity. The number of tutored activities ranges between three and five. The course tutor evaluates the performance of each student, whether individual or as part of a group activity. The mark for these activities accounts for 40% of the final grade. At the beginning of the course, students are provided with a calendar for these activities.

3. Lecturers are free to include additional activities for assessment (either in class or outside scheduled class hours). These additional activities (worth up to 1 point) may replace one or more of the assessed tutored components.

Examination-based assessment

Students can opt out of the continuous mode of assessment in favour of the single mode. The following conditions apply:

1. Students wishing to opt for the single mode of assessment must do so by completing the form made available for this purpose on the Virtual Campus before the final exam.

2. Students sit a compulsory final examination comprising five questions, with a maximum mark of 10 (100% of the final grade). Students must answer all five questions.

Repeat assessment

Repeat assessment follows the same procedure as that for the single mode of assessment.

Reading and study resources

Check availability in Cercabib

Book

JONES, Geoffrey. (ed.). The Oxford handbook of business history. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010

Catàleg UB

LANDES, David S. (ed.). The Invention of enterprise : entrepreneurship from ancient Mesopotamia to modern times. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, cop. 2010

Catàleg UB

VALDALISO GAGO, Jesús María. Historia económica de la empresa. Barcelona: Crítica, 2011

Catàleg UB