Geography and Space in Recent Economic History

Wolf Nikolaus ()
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Wolf Nikolaus: Humboldt University Berlin, School of Business and Economics, Spandauer Strasse 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany

Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook, 2025, vol. 66, issue 2, 585-607

Abstract: In this survey, I discuss the literature on historical economic geography that followed from both new economic geography (NEG) and the gravity model, with a focus on applications in economic history since 1991, especially in Europe and Germany. This discussion is organized around four themes: the starting point is the measurement of market potential and its components over the long-run. This includes attempts to estimate regional GDP, as well as changes in the accessibility of markets due to changing transportation costs, tariffs or political borders. Next, I discuss various attempts to measure the effect of market potential (or its components) on economic outcomes, that can be seen as direct empirical tests of NEG models. I also discuss several papers that try to identify the underlying microeconomic mechanism behind market potential, notably localized externalities, spillover effects, and the interplay between changes in transport infrastructure and structural change. Finally, I consider a literature which has examined the non-ergodicity implied by NEG theory, namely path dependence and multiple equilibria. I conclude with some suggestions for further research.

Keywords: economic geography; market potential; gravity models; transport history; regional inequality; Wirtschaftsgeographie; Marktpotential; Gravitationsmodelle; Transportgeschichte; regionale Ungleichheit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F N O R (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:jbwige:v:66:y:2025:i:2:p:585-607:n:1011

DOI: 10.1515/jbwg-2025-0021

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