The Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” and the European School for Training in Economic and Social Historical Research (ESTER) announce their sixth jointly-organized Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar for economic and social historians on 8-13 May 2022, in Prato (Italy) on:
“Economic Innovations”

ESTER, established in 1991, is an international postgraduate network incorporating more than 60 European Universities. ESTER organizes research training in the form of both the annual Research Design Course for starting PhD-students and a series of Advanced Seminars on special themes within economic and social history.
"F. Datini" International Institute of Economic History was founded in 1967 by Federigo Melis and Fernand Braudel. The aim of the Institute is the study of pre-industrial economic history (thirteenth-eighteenth centuries) and the creation on the topic of a space for historical culture, making comparison between different methodologies and schools of research easier and supporting young scholars during their formative years.

The topic of the seminar is closely related to the theme of the congress organized yearly by the "F. Datini" International Institute of Economic History and devoted in 2022 to The Knowledge Economy. Innovation, Productivity and Economic Growth. The 2022 Datini-Ester seminar will deal with Economic Innovations. We particularly welcome papers on technical and institutional innovations and their impact on the economic output. The seminar will not deal directly with the production factors, but with the effects on the productivity and efficiency of the economic system deriving from changes in the mix of the inputs. Our purpose is to clarify the role of technical and institutional changes in different economies and discuss the possibility of measuring their effects on gross product. 

Papers can cover any relevant aspect and any period from Antiquity until today.

Description and organization of the Advanced Datini-ESTER Seminar
The seminar is jointly organized by the members of the board of the Datini-Ester Seminar: Paolo Malanima (responsible for the project, Fondazione Datini), Ben Gales (ESTER), Jaco Zuijderduijn (ESTER), Francesco Ammannati (secretary, Fondazione Datini). The members of the board, together with other colleagues, specialist in the field, will participate in the seminar as instructors.

The Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar consists of two complementary parts:
a) the participation in the international Datini congress (LIII Settimana di Studi), devoted in 2022 to Knowledge Economy as an economic engine of growth in pre-modern world through the analysis of innovations (in organization, technique and science) over the period from the thirteenth until the eighteenth century. The congress will be held in Prato, from 8 May (opening at 6 pm with the inaugural speech in the municipal building) until 11 May (afternoon) 2022. For information on the congress: http://www.istitutodatini.it/temi/htm/temi53.htm
b) a two-day workshop from 12 May (morning) until 13 May (late afternoon), in a reserved room of the Datini Palace in Prato.
The workshop will bring together a number of senior researchers from different countries. Prior to the workshop, students will be asked to prepare a paper. They will have the opportunity of presenting their research project dealing with one or more core problems of their research field and discussing them with both senior researchers and other fellow students. Each paper will be presented by the author during the seminar and then examined and discussed by one of the participating students and by one of the instructors, after which a general discussion among all participants will take place.

The students will be guests of the Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” from Sunday 8 May (arrival) until 14 May morning (departure). On 13 May, at the end of the seminar, the students will receive diplomas attesting their participation in the Datini-ESTER seminar and Datini congress. The diplomas will be delivered only to the students who will take part both in the seminar and the Datini congress.

Besides providing a feedback opportunity for ongoing projects on innovation in technique and institutions, the seminar will provide the opportunity to attend the international Datini congress, and foster cooperation between economic and social historians coming from different countries.

This Advanced Datini-Ester Seminar is open to 15 PhD-students and Post-Docs (the latter having obtained their doctorate less than five years prior to the seminar).

Applications and admission
Students should apply online and present a 800 words max. abstract of the content of their paper dealing with economic innovations.
A first selection of students (by ESTER and Datini) will take place on the basis of the abstracts. After this stage, students who are accepted will be asked to draft their research paper.
The final admission to the course depends upon the following points:
• the student must meet the deadline for submission of the paper (deadline is 15 March 2022);
• the paper must be of sufficient academic quality and the level of the English used in the paper must be sufficient.
The language of the papers, such as that of the seminar, will be English.

Dates and location
The Advanced 2022 Seminar will take place in Prato, Italy, from 8 May (Sunday with the inauguration of the congress) to 14 May 2022 (Friday), so the day of arrival will be Sunday 8 May and the departure Saturday morning 14 May. Both the students and instructors will meet on Sunday evening (8 May) at 8 pm for a joint dinner . The seminar will start on Thursday 12 May at 9 am. Students wishing to participate are requested to send their application no later than 15 October 2021. To this purpose the students will use the online form.

The selection of students will be completed by the end of October 2021. Deadline for submission of papers by accepted students is 15 March 2022. Following that date, the papers will be made available to all participants.

Dates: a summary (2021-2022):
June 2021 - Call for Applications
15 October 2021 - Deadline for Applications
31 October 2021 - Selection completed, applicants informed
15 March 2022 - Deadline paper submission
31 March 2022 - Papers online for reading
8 May 2022 (morning or afternoon): arrival in Prato
8 May (6 pm) - 11 May (afternoon) 2022 – International Datini Congress
12 May (from 9 o’clock) - 13 May 2022 (late afternoon) – Advanced
Seminar, concluded at the end of the seminar with delivery of diplomas
14 May 2022 (morning) departure

Funding
Costs for accommodation and catering will be covered by the organizers. The organizers will not cover travel costs (possibly covered by students’ home institutions). Travel arrangements to and from Prato have to be organized by the selected participants themselves.
The workshop will be funded by the Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” and by the ESTER Graduate School.

Contact
For inquiries concerning this course, please contact ESTER:
ESTER/N.W. Posthumus Institute
Utrecht University, Dept. of History & Art History
Drift 6, 3512 BS, Utrecht
The Netherlands
E-mail: posthumus[at]uu.nl
For inquiries concerning the hospitality in Prato, the students have to contact the secretary of the Datini Institute on the dates of their arrival and departure:
Letizia Finocchiaro - Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” di Prato
E-mail: letizia[at]istitutodatini.it