Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/263564 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15348
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We propose and test empirically a theory describing the endogenous formation and persistence of mega-states, using China as an example. We suggest that the relative timing of the emergence of agricultural societies, and their distance from each other, set off a race between their autochthonous state-building projects, which determines their extent and persistence. Using a novel dataset describing the historical presence of Chinese states, prehistoric development, the diffusion of agriculture, and migratory distance across 1° × 1° grid cells in eastern Asia, we find that cells that adopted agriculture earlier and were close to Erlitou – the earliest political center in eastern Asia – remained under Chinese control for longer and continue to be a part of China today. By contrast, cells that adopted agriculture early and were located further from Erlitou developed into independent states, as agriculture provided the fertile ground for state-formation, while isolation provided time for them to develop and confront the expanding Chinese empire. Our study sheds important light on why eastern Asia kept reproducing a mega-state in the area that became China and on the determinants of its borders with other states.
Subjects: 
state
agriculture
isolation
social complexity
stickiness to China
Erlitou
East Asia
JEL: 
F50
F59
H70
H79
N90
O10
R10
Z10
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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