Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/234817 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Document de travail No. 2020-17
Publisher: 
Université du Québec à Montréal, École des sciences de la gestion (ESG UQAM), Département des sciences économiques, Montréal
Abstract: 
This paper exploits changes in the course of the Yellow River in China to isolate exogenous variation in the natural distribution of economic centers across space and over 2,000 years. Using original data on population and taxation from dynastic histories and local gazetteers, I assess the effect of market access on population density and resource extraction. I find that the changes in connectedness have two opposite effects. First, they induce a very large increase in the level and concentration of economic activity in the short run. Second, they trigger a large increase in taxation per capita and an elite flight, which reverse the concentration effect in the longer run.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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