Historical trades, skills and agglomeration economies

Philipp Ehrl and Leonardo Monasterio

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: We exploit differences in the spatial distribution of industrial and liberal occupations in the years 1872 and 1920 to instrument for today's concentration of interpersonal and analytical skills in Brazil. The data suggest that the local supply of knowledge and manufacturing provided by these historical trades favored a growth path that has shaped the occupational structure until the present day, whereby the existence of a large local consumer market was a necessary condition for this development. By means of these instruments, we present causal evidence that the regional concentration of interpersonal and analytical skills generates positive wage externalities. Particularly university graduates and workers without formal education benefit most from these agglomeration economies.

Keywords: agglomeration economies; skills; long-run industrial development; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C26 J31 N16 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-04-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-geo, nep-his, nep-lma and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:69829

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