Quality of life and population size: Causal evidence with historical mines

Stefan Leknes ()

Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Abstract: I attempt to find the causal effect of endogenous population size on quality of life. Quantity and quality of consumer amenities would increase with urban scale if not offset by congestion effects. To deal with endogeneity, I utilize a quasi-experimental design where I exploit the exogenous spatial distribution of mineral resources with Norwegian historical mines from the 12th till the 19th century. The findings suggest persistence in population patterns from early industrialization, and a positive urban scale effect on quality of life that pass multiple tests of confounding factors.

Keywords: quality of life; urban scale; historical mines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J10 R1 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2014-11-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-tre
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nst:samfok:15714

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