Universität zu Köln

Stapper, Carola (2025). Essays in Economic History. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The first chapter examines how autocratic elites adjust the social contract in response to unrest. In early 20th-century Prussia, elites relied on unequal voting rights but faced growing threats of mass mobilization. Using labor strikes as a proxy for unrest, we show that regions under greater revolutionary pressure expanded spending on redistributive public goods. Support for franchise reform in parliament, however, rose only when unrest coincided with backing from enlightened elites. These findings rest on correlational evidence, placebo tests, and a shift-share IV using international commodity price shocks across exposed industries. The second chapter studies demands for political representation by under-represented groups. We focus on women’s rising agency during WWI in Germany, proxied by local male absence rates. To measure demand for representation, we digitize a panel of suffragette clubs and exploit regional variation in recruitment duties that generated exogenous drafting probabilities. Results show women were more likely to sustain suffragette clubs where male absence was higher. Evidence suggests normalization of women in leadership roles played a role. After suffrage was introduced, these regions also saw greater female political participation. The third chapter investigates how disruptions in labor market trajectories affect long-run outcomes. I study forced labor conscription of Dutch civilians during WWII. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design based on cohort-specific drafting probabilities, and Dutch census data from 1971, I find conscription reduced employment and income. Exploiting quasi-random allocation of workers across German regions, I find suggestive evidence for two mechanisms: harsher conditions depressed later labor force participation and health, while assignments to industries also present in the Netherlands mitigated long-term scarring by easing reintegration.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Stapper, Carola UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-789062
Date:	2025
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Economics > Microeconomics, Institutions and markets > Professorship for Economic and Entrepreneurial History
Subjects:	Economics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Economic History English Labor Unrest English Franchise Extension English Forced Labor English
Date of oral exam:	15 September 2025
Referee:	Name Academic Title Hornung, Erik Prof. Dr. Bindler, Anna Prof., PhD
Funders:	DFG - Excellence Strategy - EXC 2126/1 - 390838866, Reinhard Selten Institute, Universities of Bonn and Cologne
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/78906