Old But Gold: Historical Pathways and Path Dependence

Diogo Baerlocher, Diego Firmino Costa da Silva, Guilherme Lambais, Eustaquio Reis () and Henrique Veras
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Eustaquio Reis: Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada

No 2025-01, Working Papers from University of South Florida, Department of Economics

Abstract: Following the discovery of gold in 1694 in Brazil, pathways were constructed to connect coastal settlements to mining regions in the unpopulated interior. While these pathways initially facilitated the creation of road towns, their influence faded by the late nineteenth century. With the mid-twentieth-century demographic and industrial transition, regions with higher historical road density experienced renewed population growth and greater migrant inflows. We argue that this resurgence reflects the role of road towns in fostering early urbanization and structural transformation. Using an extended Rosen-Roback-Glaeser framework, we estimate strong agglomeration spillovers, suggesting that Brazil’s spatial economy exhibits multiple steady states and historical path dependence.

Keywords: Historical Roads; Geography; Multiple Equilibria; Path Dependence; Persistence; Population Density (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N96 O18 O43 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-gro and nep-his
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