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A Dissection of Trading Capital: Cultural persistence of trade in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain

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  • Ferdinand Rauch
  • Matthias Beestermoller

Abstract

We show that the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy trade significantly more with one another in the aftermath of the collapse of the Iron Curtain than predicted by a standard gravity model. This trade surplus declines linearly and monotonically over time. We argue that these findings suggest that decaying cultural forces explain a significant part of trading capital. We document the rate of decay of these cultural forces.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferdinand Rauch & Matthias Beestermoller, 2014. "A Dissection of Trading Capital: Cultural persistence of trade in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain," Economics Series Working Papers 718, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:718
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    Cited by:

    1. Marta Santamaría & Jaume Ventura & Uğur Yeşilbayraktar, 2020. "Borders within Europe," Economics Working Papers 1763, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Feb 2024.
    2. Anna Maria Koukal, 2017. "How Vatican II influenced female enfranchisement: A story of rapid cultural change," CREMA Working Paper Series 2017-07, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    3. Christoph Hammer & Aurélien Fichet de Clairfontaine, 2016. "Trade Costs and Income in European Regions," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp220, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    4. Marta Santamaría & Jaume Ventura & Ugur Yesilbayraktar, 2020. "Borders within Europe," Working Papers 1229, Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Polugodina, Maria & Grigoriadis, Theocharis, 2020. "East Prussia 2.0: Persistent regions, rising nations," Discussion Papers 2020/8, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    6. Gunes Gokmen & Wessel N. Vermeulen & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2020. "The imperial roots of global trade," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 87-145, March.
    7. Ventura, Jaume & Santamaria, Marta & YeÅŸilbayraktar, UÄŸur, 2021. "Borders within Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 15633, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade; Gravity; Culture; Borders; Habsburg Empire; Persistence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N94 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: 1913-

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