Dr. Leigh Shaw Taylor

Biography

Leigh Shaw-Taylor is a Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge, specializing in long-run economic developments in England from the late medieval to the late nineteenth centuries, particularly focusing on occupational structure. He received an undergraduate degree in social sciences and history from the Open University, followed by a Master’s degree in economic and social history and a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and Cambridge, respectively. His research is centered around the historical development of agrarian capitalism and the impact of transport improvements during the Industrial Revolution. He has directed several key research projects, including the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, which produced significant quantitative reconstructions of the economy and occupational structure over long periods. Shaw-Taylor has collaborated with many scholars, leading international networks concerning comparative history and has also supervised numerous graduate students in various aspects of British economic and social history. He teaches multiple advanced papers, including those focused on British Industrialization and modern global economic history, while also being a member of the Economic and Social Research Council's peer review panel.

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