Jacob R. Hall

Jacob R. Hall is an Assistant Professor in the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University. His research lies at the intersection of Political Economy, Law & Economics, and Economic History, with a particular focus on long-term economic growth and institutional development. He employs spatial and network data extensively in his empirical work, drawing on both European and American historical contexts.

His research interests center on understanding the deep historical roots of economic and political institutions. He investigates questions related to the emergence of the state, the evolution of legal systems, the impact of social orders on violence, and the economic consequences of major historical transformations such as the Neolithic Revolution, the Commercial Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. His methodological toolkit includes quantitative analysis of historical datasets, particularly those involving geography and social networks.

While no specific publications are listed, his research trajectory is evident from his teaching materials and the datasets he references, which include resources like the English Medieval Crop Yields Database, the Gazetteer of English Markets and Fairs, and the Domesday Book. His work bridges economics, history, and data science, aiming to provide rigorous empirical answers to fundamental questions in social science.

Hall has developed comprehensive lecture notes for undergraduate courses, including Global Economic History, which covers topics from the Malthusian economy to the 20th century, and The Economics of the Law, which applies economic principles to property, contracts, torts, and legal systems. He has also given talks on the Great Depression and the relationship between institutions and economic growth.

His academic background includes a PhD in Economics from George Mason University (2023) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Initiative for the Study of Markets. He maintains an active online presence through a personal website and GitHub, where he shares teaching materials and code, indicating a commitment to open scholarship and educational resource development.

He is affiliated with professional organizations and resources in economic history, such as the Economic History Association and the Economic History Society, and engages with tools for GIS, network analysis (e.g., igraph), and web scraping. Although no formal advising relationships, grants, or scientific awards are mentioned in the provided text, his position and research program suggest active involvement in the academic community.