Eric Schneider
Professor of Economic History at LSE studying health, demography, living standards and economic growth; working on global historical child stunting.
Website: www.ericbschneider.com
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderThe Economic History Review has published a virtual issue collecting the contributions of 2025 Nobel Laureate Joel Mokyr in the journal. I had the privilege of writing the introductory essay. You can read it here, together with Joel's articles and reviews. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderDeadline Monday! 24 November is the new deadline for New Researcher Poster proposals for the 2026 EHS Centenary Conference, which will be hosted at the LSE, 10–12 April 2026. Posters are eligible to win a prize of £100. More info and to apply: ehs.org.uk/conference/n...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderUp next in the London Universities Population Seminar Series: On 25 November at 12:45, Dr Isadora Cruxên (QMUL) will present “Co-creating feminist technology to confront gender-based violence and feminicide.” Join us in G08 (Keppel Street) or online: www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
- Just a reminder to sign up for this webinar on IPUMS International on Wednesday!
- Curious about using census microdata in your research? 📊 Join us for a webinar on IPUMS International, the world’s leading repository of harmonized census data. 🗓️ 12 Nov 2025 | 🕒 15:15–16:30 UK | 💻 Zoom Register: forms.gle/oqTDNU4Zpn2s... Hosted by the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group.
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderHi all, please spread the word and we hope everyone can make good use of this new data drop: cmfdata.org The full surviving establishment-level Census of Manufactures manuscripts and digitized data from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880!
- Curious about using census microdata in your research? 📊 Join us for a webinar on IPUMS International, the world’s leading repository of harmonized census data. 🗓️ 12 Nov 2025 | 🕒 15:15–16:30 UK | 💻 Zoom Register: forms.gle/oqTDNU4Zpn2s... Hosted by the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group.
- The event features the IPUMS team @ipums.bsky.social + scholars using census data in innovative ways: 👤 @msaleh-econhistory.bsky.social — 19th-century Egyptian censuses. 👤 @julianajaramilloe.bsky.social — Fertility decline in Colombia. 👤 @hggaddy.bsky.social — Study of polygamy across 30 countries.
- Whether you’re in economics, history, demography, or sociology — this is a chance to explore how global census microdata can power your research. Find out more about the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group @lseechist.bsky.social here: www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderKicking off London Universities Population Seminars for the new academic year! Join us Oct 28 in person (LSE, KSW.G.01) or online to hear from Prof Karen Glaser (KCL) on mental & physical health changes among adults aged 50-69 in England. Full schedule & sign up: sites.google.com/view/londonp...
- Join us for the London Universities Population Seminar on 28 October at noon UK time at LSE. Prof Karen Glaser (Kings) will present 'Changes in mental and physical health among adults aged 50 – 69 in England: Implications for economic inactivity'. The seminar will be in-person and online.
- Sign up to attend online or see the full seminar schedule here: sites.google.com/view/londonp... Organised by LSE's Pop@LSE and Historical Economic Demography Research Groups, LSHTM's Population Studies Group @psglshtm.bsky.social, and UCL's Centre for Longitudinal Studies @clscohorts.bsky.social.
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderLSE and @bspsuk.bsky.social are hosting a workshop on "Being an academic in population studies" on 3 November! It'll be a nice mix of methods training and career advice with great talks by @ericbschneider.bsky.social, Wendy Sigle, José Manuel Aburto, and others! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-an-a...
- Reposted by Eric Schneider📢 Interested in excess mortality methods, and want a challenge? I'm organising the "One Epidemic, Many Estimates" (1EME) project! Register *now* as a many analyst team (submissions due 15 March 2026), and then join us at LSE for a workshop on 21-22 May 2026! (1/n) www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderJoin this exciting project at the LSE with @ericbschneider.bsky.social and @hggaddy.bsky.social on mortality estimates 📊
- 📢 Interested in excess mortality methods, and want a challenge? I'm organising the "One Epidemic, Many Estimates" (1EME) project! Register *now* as a many analyst team (submissions due 15 March 2026), and then join us at LSE for a workshop on 21-22 May 2026! (1/n) www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His...
- Reposted by Eric Schneider❕New WP from Eric Schneider and Romola Davenport❕ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐩𝐨𝐱? ⬇️
- 📜 NEW WORKING PAPER 📜 What was the true case fatality rate (CFR) of smallpox? My new paper with Romola Davenport (Cambridge) revisits this question using 18th-century data from Sweden and Iceland—and challenges the long-held belief that smallpox CFRs were 20–30%. 🧵👇 1/6
- Using high-quality mortality records, we estimate smallpox CFRs in two very different contexts: 📍 18th-century Sweden (endemic smallpox): CFR ~8–10% 📍 1707-9 Iceland smallpox epidemic: CFR ~40–53% 2/6
- Why the such different CFRs? In endemic settings like Sweden, smallpox was a childhood disease and adults very rarely contracted smallpox. But in Iceland, the epidemic struck a population where both adults and children were susceptible. This raised the CFR dramatically. 3/6
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View full thread🚨 Bottom line: The oft-cited 20–30% CFR for Variola major doesn't hold up across time and place. We argue for a more nuanced, historically grounded view—context matters. 📄 Read the full paper here: www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His... 6/6
- Really cool to see Jordan describing how the medieval economy worked! He covers interesting questions like: What is a peasant? How market oriented were medieval people? And what role did horses play in the medieval economy?
- Thanks to the Institute for Economic Affairs for indulging in my ramblings about my recent research! youtu.be/pXkofabuCBI?... @lseechist.bsky.social #econhist
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderThanks to the Institute for Economic Affairs for indulging in my ramblings about my recent research! youtu.be/pXkofabuCBI?... @lseechist.bsky.social #econhist
- Reposted by Eric Schneider📖 Join us for this book talk by Cormac O'Grada tomorrow evening in person or online, discussing the casualties of the World Wars. O'Grada argues that civilian deaths in the two #WorldWars were much higher than previously estimated. #lse #econhist #WWI #WWII www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderWe are now accepting applications for our Annual Workshop on Formal Demography, taking place in-person at UC Berkeley on June 2-6, 2025. Deadline to apply is March 10. See more information on the workshop and how to apply here: populationsciences.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u... Please share widely!
- Reposted by Eric Schneider@lseechist.bsky.social would be pleased to support suitable applications for the following postdoctoral fellowships beginning in 10/2025. Check the eligibility criteria for the schemes, and if eligible, contact @ericbschneider.bsky.social (e.b.schneider@lse.ac.uk) to discuss your application 1/3
- Final reminder about this workshop. We are also grateful to have received funding from the economic history society that will help cover accommodation costs for a couple of PhD students. Please apply now!
- Just a reminder about this call for papers!
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderWE KNOW...YOU ARE THINKING!! 📢Call for Papers 6th Conference of the ESHD #Demography Last Days! The European Society of Historical Demography is pleased to invite submissions for its 6th Conference, to be held in #Bologna #Italy 10-13 September 2025 👉 eshd2025.eshd.eu
- Just reposting this in case anyone missed it last week. Please submit your work! #EconSky #histmed #demography #econhist
- CFP: Workshop on Health Transitions in the Global South CFP Deadline 3 February 2025 Workshop 9-10 June 2025 at LSE Organised by myself and Neil Cummins Sponsored by the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group
- In economic history/historical demography, the health transition in the Global North is often taken as the default model from which the Global South diverges. For instance, the transition in the South happened later, more quickly and was driven by medical innovations and global health campaigns.
- However, this North-South dichotomy may underemphasise the variation in the health transition within the Global South. For instance, mortality and child stunting decline in the Caribbean began far earlier than in countries with similar levels of income in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
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View full threadMore information will be available shortly at the following link: www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His... And here's a link to the full call for papers: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6xdff...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderThe CfP for the 6th Conference of the European Society of Historical Demography is out! The conference will be held in Bologna from 10 to 13 September 2025. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2025! eshd2025.eshd.eu
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderPublic service announcement that Charles Booth's 'Maps Descriptive of London Poverty, 1898-9' have been uploaded by LSE archive online to be viewed and reproduced freely. 🗃️ unsplash.com/collections/...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderCfP for a special issue in Historical Life Course Studies: "Sources and Databases on Causes of Death in Historical Societies (1800–1950)." Join us! greatleap.eu/calls/call-f...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderHello @bsky.app! Let me start off my activity on this website by fully endorsing the beautiful thread that @jordanclaridge.bsky.social has made on our joint work on (in-kind) wages in the Middle Ages, available at *Explorations in Economic History*! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderThe historical #fertility transition began with stopping, and then involved both stopping and spacing, with similar patterns across #social classes. Evidence from applying cure models to #microdata from Southern Sweden. New publication 👉https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/51/40
- I've been at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa today presenting new research. Thanks to Giuliana Freschi, Giacamo Gabbuti and Alessandro Nuvolari for inviting me. I use daily fog events in turn-of-the-century London to measure the short- and long-run health costs of pollution for children.
- Always fun to be able to include a beautiful painting that captures the essence of what one is studying. I've always loved Monet's paintings of London.
- I'm hoping to have a working paper out by the end of the year (if I can convince myself to stop tinkering with the analysis).
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderPiece critical about the current state of genetic research in demography ("The Dead Ends of Sociogenomics") but which ends on a hopeful note, arguing demographers & sociologists should work together with the natural sciences to improve this field shs.cairn.info/journal-popu...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderIt's great to see the British Society for Population Studies @bspsuk.bsky.social over here: anyone interested in population and/or demography should follow them!
- More zen for the skyline!
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderOoooooooooh the Foundling Hospital archive has now gone online. (I think I did a few page transcriptions for this one.) coramstory.org.uk/the-foundlin... If you want to go straight into petitions... archives.coram.org.uk/records/CFH/...
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderJob alert: Associate Professor in Social Demography at the Department of Sociology & St John's College. This is a brilliant new position. Join a fabulous college, great students, wonderful colleagues, and me (sorry, no job is perfect) tinyurl.com/soc-dem-job #sociology #demography
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderVery happy to share our new working paper: cepr.org/publications...
- Reposted by Eric Schneider#TodayinHistory #dataviz #Onthisday #OTD 📊 💀Oct 25, 1914 Wilhelm Lexis died in Gottingen, Germany 🇩🇪 1875: credited with the Lexis diagram, showing relations among age, calendar time, and life spans of individuals simultaneously. Brought demography to new levels.
- Reposted by Eric SchneiderMy institution is hiring for two TT positions, one is for a demographer at the assistant or early associate level. The other is for a medical sociologist and/or a social demographer with strong interests and expertise in population and health inequalities, at the assistant level. Links below.
- 📢 Did smallpox cause stillbirths in the past? Our study of Swedish data (1780–1839) reveals surprising findings about the impact of smallpox and the role of vaccination. 🧵👇 Article forthcoming at Population Studies: doi.org/10.1080/0032...
- In the 18th and 19th centuries, stillbirth rates were high across much of Europe. Understanding the factors behind these losses is crucial for piecing together historical health trends.
- 🔑 Before 1820, smallpox had little effect on stillbirths. Most women contracted smallpox in childhood and were therefore immune from subsequent infections. This meant that smallpox cases during pregnancy were very rare.
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View full threadOur study shows that while smallpox played a minor role in stillbirths in Sweden, vaccination altered the risk for pregnant women over time. Learn more in the full study! doi.org/10.1080/0032...
- I’m giving a short talk to my department Friday about using AI in research. Does anyone have any resources they would recommend?
