Doomsday to Today. 1000 Years of Spatial Inequality in England

Luke Heath Milsom

No 746864, Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven from KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven

Abstract: Using data from the Doomsday Book, I find that areas of England that were 10% richer in 1086 are on average almost 2% richer today. Using a natural experiment and a dynamic quantitative spatial economics model I show that this persistence is not due to path dependency. Instead, the 1086 economy was moving towards a different, but correlated, long-run spatial equilibrium than that observed in 2020. This correlation in spatial equilibria can in part be explained by local market access. Modern place-based policies aiming to shift the spatial distribution of economic activity should focus on changing location fundamentals if they are to have long-run impacts.

Pages: 44
Date: 2024-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-his and nep-ure
Note: paper number DPS 24.02
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Forthcoming in FEB Research Report Department of Economics

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