Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6833
Authors: Maarten Bosker; Eltjo Buringh; Jan Luiten van Zanden
Abstract: On the basis of a large (new) dataset of cities in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in the millennium between 800 and 1800, we try to provide an answer to the question why, during this millennium, the urban center of gravity moved from Iraq (or more generally the Arab world) to Western Europe and to the shores of the Atlantic (during the 17th and 18th century) in particular. We study the characteristics of the European and Arab urban systems involved, amongst others focusing on the interaction between cities, and explain why one system was much more dynamic in the long run than the other. Also we assess the importance of various geographical, religious and institutional factors as the driving forces of urban expansion. Overall, we provide a better understanding of the dynamics of urban growth in the centuries leading up to the Industrial Revolution and an answer to the question why London, an economic backwater in 800, was able to overtake Baghdad, in 800 the thriving capital of the Abbasid caliphate, as the largest city in this part of the world.
Keywords: urban growth; economic history; Arab world; Western Europe
JEL Codes: N10; N90; R11
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| differing institutional efficiencies (P39) | urban center of gravity shift from Iraq to Western Europe (F01) |
| interaction effects between cities within the same urban system (R11) | urban growth (R11) |
| decline of the Abbasid Caliphate (N95) | deterioration of institutional quality in the Arab world (O17) |
| deterioration of institutional quality in the Arab world (O17) | stagnation in urban growth (R11) |
| effective institutions in Western Europe (P16) | increase in urbanization rates (R11) |
| being a capital city (R53) | strong positive impact on urban growth (R11) |
| presence of local authority (communes) (H70) | urban expansion (R11) |
| interaction across religious borders (Z12) | negative or insignificant effect on urban growth (R11) |