Paper #1774

Title:

Quantitative economic geography meets history: Questions, answers and challenges

Author:

David Krisztián Nagy

Date:

November 2020 (Revised: March 2021)

Abstract:

A rapidly growing literature uses quantitative general equilibrium models of economic geography to study the economic impact of historical events such as the railroad revolution, industrial take-off, structural transformation and wars. I identify three key challenges facing this literature: the tractability of model structure, the availability of historical data, and issues related to identification. I review the literature by discussing how it has been addressing each of these challenges. While doing so, I point out the rich set of questions that this literature can address, as well as the methodological innovations it has conducted to answer these questions.

Keywords:

economic geography; regional economics; urban economics; economic history

JEL codes:

N9; R10; R13

Area of Research:

Macroeconomics and International Economics

Published in:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103675

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