Quantitative economic geography meets history: questions, answers and challenges

Nagy, David Krisztián

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103675

Quantitative economic geography meets history: questions, answers and challenges

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Nagy DK. Quantitative economic geography meets history: questions, answers and challenges. Reg Sci Urban Econ. 2022 May;94:103675. DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103675

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.