Silk Roads to Riches: Persistence Along an Ancient Trade Network

Zofia Ahmad and Luke Chicoine

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The Silk Roads were a decentralized network of trade routes that connected ancient cities across Eurasia. Goods, ideas, people, and technology moved along the roads for over 1,500 years. Using a detailed georeferenced map of the entire trade network, this paper finds that areas within 50 KM of the historic location of the Silk Roads have higher levels of economic activity today. The persistent effect of proximity to the ancient trade network is associated with increased access to modern transportation infrastructure and the historical diffusion of technology along the routes but cannot be explained by differences in contemporary or historical levels of population density. This analysis is complemented by individual-level data from 22 countries; we find that districts with populations closest to the Silk Roads have higher rates of inter-group marriage, suggesting a weakening of social boundaries between groups that might possess differential technological knowledge.

Keywords: ancient trade network; nighttime light intensity; modern transportation infrastructure; technological diffusion; cultural persistence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N75 O18 O33 R11 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-gro, nep-his, nep-int, nep-tre and nep-ure
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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/105146/9/MPRA_paper_105146.pdf original version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/105436/18/MPRA_paper_105436.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:105146

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