Ascertaining motivations for historical trade policy using topic modelling

Protectionism has returned to the global economy. Understanding its motives is key. Yet we often rely on theory or outcomes alone. This project applies a new approach: using historical legislative debates to identify motivations directly. We focus on Britain and the United States during the period 1800–1860, a formative era in trade history. By employing topic modelling on discourse, we pinpoint three key motivations—revenue, restriction, reciprocity—and measure their evolving importance. This uncovers complex political, economic, and ideological interactions underlying trade policy. Our scalable method deepens insight into trade formation and guides future comparative studies.

Members: Christopher Absell och Jeremy Land