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Michael Leese, assistant professor of history, has received a award to work on his second book, which will focus on the role of institutions in constraining economic development in ancient Greece.

鈥淭he chapters I will work on with the stipend will examine how the laws of different Greek cities affected the long-term growth and stability of business fortunes,鈥� says . 鈥淒id these laws further weaken the already tenuous basis for commercial and financial assets, forcing bankers and merchants to transform the business character of their assets by investing in land to protect their fortunes?鈥� If so, he says, insurmountable institutional barriers to commercial and financial growth in antiquity could explain many of the behaviors scholars have traditionally attributed to a pre-rational economic mentality.

The book project expands on the themes Leese explored in his first book, 鈥淢aking Money in Ancient Greece鈥� (University of Michigan Press). Previously awarded a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship from Harvard University, Leese teaches courses on ancient Greece, Rome and economic history.

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite an honor to receive this summer stipend,鈥� Leese says. 鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful to the NEH for giving me this focused period of time to work on this project.鈥�