The research project titled “Echoes of Economic Power”, led by Proff. Christian Eufinger and David Teeters from IESE Business School, examines the historical role of financial systems in shaping contemporary socio-economic challenges. In an era marked by economic inequality and limited social mobility, the project investigates how historical wealth accumulation practices influenced social and economic development.
Focusing on reconstructing a novel transaction-level dataset on individual financial wealth in Britain from 1694 to 1827, the research leverages over 40 million transaction records from the Bank of England archives. This data enables the reconstruction of individual investment portfolios, providing insights into investment behaviors, risk decisions, and economic growth during the rise of modern capital markets.
Using advanced methods, such as handwritten text recognition (HTR) and empirical analyses, the study aims to explore the connections between historical wealth structures and their impact on wealth distribution, social mobility, and community cohesion. Key objectives include understanding the geographic distribution of wealth, the socio-economic impacts of wealth concentration, and deriving historical lessons for sustainable growth and equitable development.
Funded by the Social Trends Institute (STI), the project seeks to provide actionable insights for policy-making to foster economic inclusion and resilience. Findings will be shared through publications in leading economics and finance journals, as well as summaries aimed at non-academic audiences, including policymakers and industry leaders.