Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14604
Authors: Valeria Rueda; Brian Ahearn
Abstract: We examine the economic impact of Italian unification from a micro-geographical perspective, asking whether the abolition of internal borders caused a redistribution of economic activity towards the former border zones, which now enjoyed improved market access. We construct a new geocoded dataset of municipal (comune) populations from the pre-unification period through to 1871. Using a difference-in-differences approach and controlling for a variety of geographic correlates including elevation and distances to ports, railway lines, and large cities, we find robust evidence of a relative acceleration in population growth - our proxy for economic activity - in comuni near the former internal borders, consistent with our market access hypothesis.
Keywords: border effects; economic history; economic integration; italy; political unification; 19th century; spatial inequality
JEL Codes: J6; N33; N93; R12; R23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Abolition of internal borders (F55) | Population growth (J11) |
| Proximity to former internal borders (F55) | Population growth (J11) |
| Abolition of internal borders (F55) | Economic activity (E29) |
| Economic activity (E29) | Population growth (J11) |
| Abolition of internal borders (F55) | Demographic changes (J11) |