Ancient colonialism and the economic geography of the Mediterranean

The economic impact of colonialism

Dimitris K Chronopoulos, Sotiris Kampanelis, Daniel Oto-Peralías and John Wilson

Journal of Economic Geography, 2021, vol. 21, issue 5, 717-759

Abstract: This article investigates the legacy of ancient Phoenician, Greek and Etruscan colonialism in shaping the economic geography of the Mediterranean region. Utilising historical data on ancient colonies and current data on population density and night light emissions (as a proxy for economic activity), we find that geographical areas colonised by these ancient civilisations have higher population density and economic activity in the present day. We also find that ancient colonialism affected the origin and evolution of the urban system of cities and settlements prevalent in the Mediterranean region.

Keywords: Economic geography; economic development; ancient colonialism; history; Mediterranean; cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 N93 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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