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THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

ANNUAL REPORT 1973

Staff:

Professor and Head of Department:

G.S .L. Tucker, B .Com. (Melb.), Ph.D. (Can tab.)

-.. · Reader:

-c. Forster, B.com.(Melb.), Ph.D.

Lecturers:

S.H. Cornish, B.Ec. (W.A.) R. V. J.ackson, B .Ee. (Syd.), Ph.D. (Syd.) A. Martina, B.Com.(Rhodes), M.A.(Essex)

.J.E.S. Gagg, B.A.(Manchester) · H.M. Boot, B.Sc.(Econ.)(Lond.)

Senior Tutor: ,.

Vacant

Research Assistant:

Margaret Critchlow, B.Ec.(Monash)

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The department offers courses dealing chiefly with modern periods of economic development, beginning in the mid-eighteenth century or ·later ~ and coming for'Nard .to the years since the end of the Second World War. Except in ·-.the first-year un~t, economic history must be studied in association with economic theory. The main areas at present covered are the U.K., U.S.A., Australia, Japan, India, and some selected European economies.

The department's research interests lie mainly in Australian economic development, p'opulation economics and historical demography~ :-· · and the history of Eng~ish economic thought.

Staff Matters: \ Professor Tucker served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Board of the School elected by the Board until September. He· was · elected Dean of the Faculty of Economics to succeed Professor Heathcote after 24 December. '..·

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Mr S.H. Cornish was granted six months leave without pay from 21 May to enable him to take up temporary . employment as an economist in the Resources Branch of the Commonwealth ·Department of the Treasury. He returned to the department ' on 19 November and has now succeeded Dr Jackson as Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Economics.

Courses:

Teaching was conducted in three full-year units (Economic History I and II, and History of Economic Thought) and three semester units (The Economic Development of Modern Japan, Recent Economic Experience in Europe and North America, and Economic Analysis of History). There was no candidate for the fourth honours year (Economic History IV Hons).

- ·. Enrolments and Examinations:

Total undergraduate unit enrolments in full-year units and first semester units on 30 April 1973 were ~44, repre.senting a decrease of 4. 7 per cent compared with those in 1.972. This decrease is explained by a further fall in enrolments in the .first-year unit Economic History I, which have been reduced from 180 'iri 1971 to 133 in 1972 and 116 in 1973. Enrolments in second and third-year units remained about the same as in 1972, although there was an unusually good class, both in numbers and quality, in the unit History of Eccnomic Thought.

Examination statistics have been shown on a separate she'et. -: The failure rate among those sitting the end-of-year examination in the first-year unit Economic History I was 13 per cent; · this is a little higher than that recotded in 1972 (10 per cent). However, with a little less wastage during the year, the combined wastage-plus-failure rates in the unit were the same in both · years (26 per cent), indic~ting that about three-quarters of the candidates enrolled on 30 April are now conu\l~t;f,.ng ·the · unit ' 'success.fully. Since . most of those who failed in l .?73: were ·well . short of "a· pass standar.~,. the.re . seems -little prospec~· o'f imp~.c;>?J.ing ·the suc~ess' rate much above ··rt·s present - level. . . '!

In·· later.o;.year units; · as wel)'.' as the first-year unit, the · depart-ment is making greater use of essays as a method of assessment, " especially in the case of candidates for Honours. Although there has been some enthusiasm among students for assessment based partly on ' essays, it ·is perh~ps of interes to note that ·four of -the thirteen candi4ates who ·failed in 'Economic History :! did not submit one or both of the essays due in the unit, which together carried approximately 30 per cent of the total possible mark.

Student Participation:

Members of the department met with students who had been appo~n.ted· to the liaison committee to di'scuss teaching methods and the content of units offered in Economic History.

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Lecturers in all units made time available during lectures for students to complete questionnaires issued in ~onnec·tion with the teaching survey organised by the students. So far, no ·results of the survey have been communicated to the department •

. -Research:

Professor Tucker completed two papers, both of which have been submitted to journals with a view to publication. One of these was a statistical analysis of the reliability of child-woman ratio~ as measures of fertility in historical studies, making use of English nineteenth-century data; the other was intended to test hypotheses regarding the determinants . of levels of relief -expenditure under the old Poor law in England, using cros~_:section analysi·s. ;,.

Dr Forster completed a study of the fertiiity transition in Australia during the late nineteenth century. This leads to results, · rathe~ different from those recently published by a member of the i Office of Population Research at Princeton University. It has .been · ,,, aciepted for publication. Dr Forster is now e~gaged on- a contr:lbuti~n !~~ to -the comparative study of Japanese' and Australian economic develo~ent;~ :

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Dr Jackson worked on a contribut:ion to a yolum~~of collected I.:. ;'. essays dealing with aspects of AustJ!alian urba.n grow~. ·Mr Bo~t , continued his rese_arch on 1~he British economy ~n the 1840s and }tr Gag~ T his work on Australian agricultural commodity policy~ 192~-1968, witp~ special reference to wool and wheat. Mr Martina, in addition to . i. introducing a new third-year semester unit (Economic Analysis of History)', has worked on the application of economic theox:y to s.elected historical ;· problems.

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1 2 Subject Enrolled or unit as at

30.4.73

No. % Economic History I 116 (100)

Economic History II 63 (100)

The Economic Development of Modern Japan 45 (100)

Recent Economic Experience in Europe and North America 44 (100)

Economic Analysis of History 4 (100)

History of Economic Thought 15 (100)

Final Honours Masters Qualifying

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THE AUSTRALiAN NATIONAL UNiVERSITY ··.

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY .- ANALYSIS OF .STUDENT PERFORMANCE

3 4 5 Sitting Wastage Failure

(i.e. _.

2 - 3) -

No. % No. % No. ·.% ·. :·

99 (85) 17 (15) 13 (11)

.. 58 (92) 5 (8) 5 (8) ~

44 (98) 1 (2) 2 (4)- --..

42 (95) 2 (5) 1 (2)°

4(100)

15(100)

Enrolled (as at 30 April 1973)

Nil Nil

6 7 Sitting High

Diet.

No• · % No. % ' 99 :(100) 2 (2)

-> 58 (100)

-...

44 (100) ... _ ...:

42 (100)

f -·

-4 (100) ·

.. ... ~

15 (100) l · (7)

... .. Sitting ..

8 Dist.

9 Credit

10 Pass with Merit

No. % No. % No. % ·17 (17) 18 (18)

11 Pass

No. %

4~ (49)

2 (3) 2 (3) 6 (10) 43 (74)

7 (16) 1 (2) 5 (11) . 29 (66)

5 (12) 2 (5) 2 (5) 32 (76)

- 2 (SO) 2 (SO)

6 (40) 1 (7) 2 (13) 5 (33)

Results

?-tasters Degree One candidate in second part-time year by thesis. Ph.D. Nil

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12 Fail

No. %

13 (13)

5 (9)

2 (5)

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