Persistence of cities: Evidence from China

Using data from the Qing dynasty, we investigate the long‐run impact of early development on today's living standards in China. We use city‐level population density in 1776 as a measure of early economic prosperity, and examine how it is associated with today's development indicators such...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReview of development economics Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 663 - 676
Main Authors Duan, Fan, Unel, Bulent
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2019
Subjects
18th century
China
Cities
Economic development
light density
Openness
Population density
Qing Dynasty
schooling
Standard of living
China
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Summary:Using data from the Qing dynasty, we investigate the long‐run impact of early development on today's living standards in China. We use city‐level population density in 1776 as a measure of early economic prosperity, and examine how it is associated with today's development indicators such as the average night light density, GDP per capita, average years of schooling, and trade openness. We find that cities which were more prosperous during the Qing dynasty are now also brighter, richer, more educated, and more open.
ISSN:1363-6669
1467-9361
DOI:10.1111/rode.12565