Karine van der Beek of Ben-Gurion University to be Awarded a Grant from the Institute for New Economic Thinking
An INET grant will fund Professor van der Beek’s project to conduct research on the effect of the technological changes that led to the British Industrial Revolution.
New York, NY, December 19, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), launched with a $50 million pledge from George Soros to promote changes in economic theory and practice through research grants, Task Force groups, academic partnerships, and conferences, announced that it has selected Karine van der Beek of Ben-Gurion University to research the technological growth during the British Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, and study its effect on the market for skilled workers. The grant program, along with other INET initiatives, was created in direct response to arguably the worst economic crisis in world history, and has been designed to encourage and support new economic thinking. Starting in 2011, INET will conduct two grant cycles annually.
The project examines the impact of industrial development and the demand for human capital and skill formation associated with the British industrial revolution. Though many economic scholars have portrayed the industrial revolution as being deskilling because it substituted highly skilled artisans for physical capital, raw materials, and unskilled labor, there is little quantitative research examining these developments, due to the limited amount of available evidence on human capital during the 18th century England. Through her research, Professor van der Beek plans to use INET’s funding to present quantitative support that would contribute to the ongoing historical debate as well as to the understanding of the forces that shaped human capital development, and promote economic growth.
“Van der Beek’s project seeks to prove the anecdotal evidence that the technological changes led to the increased demand for skills necessary in the machine production and maintenance industry. The project simultaneously strives to disprove the commonly accepted idea that the Industrial Revolution was skill-substituting,” said Dr. Robert Johnson, Executive Director of INET. “This project challenges a concept that has been accepted despite the lack of empirical evidence to support it, and will offer critical insights into the past that may be applicable to our future.”
Karine van der Beek is an economic historian, entering her second year as a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, which she joined after graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to joining Ben-Gurion University, she spent a year in the postdoctoral program of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She has focused on long-run economic growth, technological change and the evolution of human capital in the context of Pre-Modern Europe since her graduate program.
“The view of the Industrial Revolution as deskilling poses a serious limitation to our understanding of the relationship between technology, human capital and economic growth; it restricts the predictions of the existing endogenous growth models. It is therefore essential to systematically examine this view that is based on very scant evidence,” said Dr. Karine van der Beek, assistant professor in the Economics Department at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. “I am grateful to INET for endowing me with a grant that will enable me to carry out my research and provide the evidence and statistical analysis necessary for shedding light on this important question.”
INET’s Inaugural Grant Program has been designed to harness the new economic thinking we recognize as crucial to effecting change. The program was launched this summer and received more than 500 applications from around the world and has selected 34 initiatives to be awarded grants totaling $7 million. INET's Grant Program will continue with two similar grant cycles annually, the next one commencing in the spring of 2011.
For further details regarding INET’s Grant Program or additional projects and people to be awarded grants please visit the Institute’s website.
About the Institute for New Economic Thinking:
Launched in October 2009 with a $50 million commitment from George Soros and driven by the global financial crisis, the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) is dedicated to empowering and supporting the next generation of economists and scholars in related fields through research grants, Task Force groups, academic partnerships, and conferences. INET embraces the professional responsibility to think beyond current paradigms. Ultimately, INET is committed to broadening and accelerating the development of innovative thinking that can lead to insights into and solutions for the great challenges of the 21st century and return economics to its core mission of guiding and protecting society. For more information please visit http://www.ineteconomics.org/
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The project examines the impact of industrial development and the demand for human capital and skill formation associated with the British industrial revolution. Though many economic scholars have portrayed the industrial revolution as being deskilling because it substituted highly skilled artisans for physical capital, raw materials, and unskilled labor, there is little quantitative research examining these developments, due to the limited amount of available evidence on human capital during the 18th century England. Through her research, Professor van der Beek plans to use INET’s funding to present quantitative support that would contribute to the ongoing historical debate as well as to the understanding of the forces that shaped human capital development, and promote economic growth.
“Van der Beek’s project seeks to prove the anecdotal evidence that the technological changes led to the increased demand for skills necessary in the machine production and maintenance industry. The project simultaneously strives to disprove the commonly accepted idea that the Industrial Revolution was skill-substituting,” said Dr. Robert Johnson, Executive Director of INET. “This project challenges a concept that has been accepted despite the lack of empirical evidence to support it, and will offer critical insights into the past that may be applicable to our future.”
Karine van der Beek is an economic historian, entering her second year as a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, which she joined after graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to joining Ben-Gurion University, she spent a year in the postdoctoral program of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She has focused on long-run economic growth, technological change and the evolution of human capital in the context of Pre-Modern Europe since her graduate program.
“The view of the Industrial Revolution as deskilling poses a serious limitation to our understanding of the relationship between technology, human capital and economic growth; it restricts the predictions of the existing endogenous growth models. It is therefore essential to systematically examine this view that is based on very scant evidence,” said Dr. Karine van der Beek, assistant professor in the Economics Department at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. “I am grateful to INET for endowing me with a grant that will enable me to carry out my research and provide the evidence and statistical analysis necessary for shedding light on this important question.”
INET’s Inaugural Grant Program has been designed to harness the new economic thinking we recognize as crucial to effecting change. The program was launched this summer and received more than 500 applications from around the world and has selected 34 initiatives to be awarded grants totaling $7 million. INET's Grant Program will continue with two similar grant cycles annually, the next one commencing in the spring of 2011.
For further details regarding INET’s Grant Program or additional projects and people to be awarded grants please visit the Institute’s website.
About the Institute for New Economic Thinking:
Launched in October 2009 with a $50 million commitment from George Soros and driven by the global financial crisis, the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) is dedicated to empowering and supporting the next generation of economists and scholars in related fields through research grants, Task Force groups, academic partnerships, and conferences. INET embraces the professional responsibility to think beyond current paradigms. Ultimately, INET is committed to broadening and accelerating the development of innovative thinking that can lead to insights into and solutions for the great challenges of the 21st century and return economics to its core mission of guiding and protecting society. For more information please visit http://www.ineteconomics.org/
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Bill Fallon
212 925 6900
ineteconomics.org
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