The intergenerational transmission of historical conflicts: An application to China’s trade

Difei Ouyang and Weidi Yuan

Journal of Comparative Economics, 2021, vol. 49, issue 3, 675-692

Abstract: We study the legacy effect and transmission mechanisms of historical conflicts on contemporary trade. Using new data on the regional dispersion of civilian deaths due to massacres in the Sino-Japanese war (1931–1945), we find that local conflict intensity predicts international trade patterns of Chinese corporations three generations later. We further explore the transmission mechanism of collective war memory. Conflict intensity correlates with measures of anti-Japanese sentiments inferred from survey data and it appears to be transmitted both through war dramas in the mass media as well as official commemorations. We also find evidence that the trade-inhibiting effect increases with the time exposed to collective war memory.

Keywords: Historical conflicts; Trade; Collective memory; Transmission mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F10 F51 N45 N95 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:49:y:2021:i:3:p:675-692

DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2021.01.005

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