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Borders, Market Size and Urban Growth, The Case of Saxon Towns and the Zollverein in the 19th Century

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  • Ploeckl, Florian

    (Yale University)

Abstract

Changes in trade institutions, such as the abolishment of tariff barriers, have a potentially strong impact on economic development. The Zollverein, the 1834 customs union between German states, erased borders in much of central Europe. This paper investigates the Zollverein's economic impact through a study of urban population and its growth in the German state of Saxony. A model of the effect of market access on urban growth is combined with an extensive data set on town populations in Saxony and its neighbors as well as an improved distance measure based on GIS techniques, which take into account elevation patterns, roads, and rivers. The results show that Zollverein membership led to significantly higher growth for towns close to the border with fellow Zollverein member Thuringia. They also illustrate that natural resources affect town size but not the growth pattern after the Zollverein. The effects of changes in market access were reinforced through the impact on market access in other towns and they were stronger for larger towns as well. Migration was the predominant source of the differential growth pattern.

Suggested Citation

  • Ploeckl, Florian, 2008. "Borders, Market Size and Urban Growth, The Case of Saxon Towns and the Zollverein in the 19th Century," Working Papers 55, Yale University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:yaleco:55
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    Cited by:

    1. Florian Ploeckl, 2012. "Market access and information technology adoption: historical lessons from the introduction of the telephone in Bavaria," Working Papers 12009, Economic History Society.
    2. Ploeckl, Florian, 2012. "Endowments and market access; the size of towns in historical perspective: Saxony, 1550–1834," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 607-618.
    3. Florian Ploeckl, 2017. "Towns (and villages): definitions and implications in a historical setting," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(2), pages 269-287, May.
    4. Nielsen, Hana, 2021. "Coal and Sugar: The Black and White Gold of Czech Industrialization (1841-1863)," Lund Papers in Economic History 229, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    5. Florian Ploeckl, 2015. "It's all in the Mail: The Economic Geography of the German Empire," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2015-12, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    6. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Arne Feddersen, 2010. "From periphery to core: economic adjustments to high speed rail," Working Papers 2010/38, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    7. Ploeckl, Florian, 2013. "The internal impact of a customs union; Baden and the Zollverein," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 387-404.
    8. Florian Ploeckl, 2012. "Market Access and Information Technology Adoption: Historical Evidence from the Telephone in Bavaria," Economics Series Working Papers 620, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    9. Keller, Wolfgang & Shiue, Carol, 2013. "The Trade Impact of the Zollverein," CEPR Discussion Papers 9387, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Florian Ploeckl, 2012. "Space, settlements, towns: the influence of geography and market access on settlement distribution and urbanization," Working Papers 2012/23, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    11. Florian Ploeckl, 2010. "The Zollverein and the Formation of a Customs Union," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _084, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    12. Florian Ploeckl, 2017. "Towns (and villages): definitions and implications in a historical setting," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(2), pages 269-287, May.
    13. Florian Ploeckl, 2012. "Space, settlements, towns: the influence of geography and market access on settlement distribution and urbanization," Working Papers 2012/23, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    14. Florian Ploeckl, 2013. "Local convergence: Baden 1829-1847," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(2), pages 122-139, June.
    15. Florian Ploeckl, 2010. "The Zollverein and the Formation of a Customs Union," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _084, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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