IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v112y2022i5p1555-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rebel on the Canal: Disrupted Trade Access and Social Conflict in China, 1650–1911

Author

Listed:
  • Yiming Cao
  • Shuo Chen

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of the abandonment of China's Grand Canal—the world's largest and oldest artificial waterway—which served as a disruption to regional trade access. Using an original dataset covering 575 counties over 262 years, we show that the canal's abandonment contributed to the social turmoil that engulfed North China in the nineteenth century. Counties along the canal experienced an additional 117 percent increase in rebelliousness after the canal's closure relative to their non-canal counterparts. Our findings highlight the important role that continued access to trade routes plays in reducing conflict.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiming Cao & Shuo Chen, 2022. "Rebel on the Canal: Disrupted Trade Access and Social Conflict in China, 1650–1911," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1555-1590, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:112:y:2022:i:5:p:1555-90
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20201283
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aer.20201283
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E157781V1
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aer.20201283.appx
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aer.20201283.ds
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/aer.20201283?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carol H. Shiue, 2002. "Transport Costs and the Geography of Arbitrage in Eighteenth-Century China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1406-1419, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Shuo & Li, Jianan & Yao, Qin, 2024. "Canal and trade: Transportation infrastructure and market integration in China, 1780–1911," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 793-812.
    2. Sergio H. Lence & GianCarlo Moschini & Fabio Gaetano Santeramo, 2018. "Threshold cointegration and spatial price transmission when expectations matter," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 25-39, January.
    3. Keller, Wolfgang & Shiue, Carol H., 2007. "The origin of spatial interaction," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 304-332, September.
    4. Wolfgang Keller & Carol H. Shiue, 2020. "China’s Foreign Trade and Investment, 1800-1950," NBER Working Papers 27558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ran Abramitzky, 2015. "Economics and the Modern Economic Historian," NBER Working Papers 21636, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Qiang Chen, 2015. "Climate shocks, dynastic cycles and nomadic conquests: evidence from historical China," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 185-204.
    7. Qiang Chen, 2014. "Natural Disasters, Ethnic Diversity, and the Size of Nations: Two Thousand Years of Unification and Division in Historical China," SDU Working Papers 2014-01, School of Economics, Shandong University.
    8. Wolfgang Keller & Carol H. Shiue & Xin Wang, 2020. "Capital markets and grain prices: assessing the storage cost approach," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(2), pages 367-396, May.
    9. Haiwen Zhou, 2009. "Population Growth And Industrialization," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(2), pages 249-265, April.
    10. Kitenge, Erick M. & Morshed, A.K.M. Mahbub, 2019. "Price convergence among Indian cities: The role of linguistic differences, topography, and aggregation," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 34-50.
    11. Li, Qingxiao & Yang, Jinyang & Yang, Xiaoli & Mu, Endong, 2025. "Decompose food price disparities in China: Evidence from wholesale markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    12. Yohannis Mulu Tessema & Derek Baker, 2025. "The impact of warehouse services on spatial and intra‐temporal agricultural market integration: The case of the Ethiopian commodity exchange's warehouse services," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 654-671, July.
    13. Debin Ma & Liuyan Zhao, 2020. "A silver transformation: Chinese monetary integration in times of political disintegration, 1898–1933," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(2), pages 513-539, May.
    14. Chengjin Wang & César Ducruet, 2013. "Regional Resilience and Spatial Cycles: Long-Term Evolution of the Chinese Port System (221bc–2010ad)," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(5), pages 521-538, December.
    15. Wolfgang Keller & Carol H. Shiue, 2016. "Market Integration as a Mechanism of Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 6070, CESifo.
    16. Yared, Pierre & Qian, Nancy & ,, 2010. "The Institutional Causes of China's Great Famine, 1959-61," CEPR Discussion Papers 8012, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Matthias Flückiger & Markus Ludwig, 2019. "Transport infrastructure, growth and persistence: The rise and demise of the Sui Canal," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(2), pages 624-666, May.
    18. Wolfgang Keller & Carol H. Shiue, 2007. "Market Integration and Economic Development: A Long‐run Comparison," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 107-123, February.
    19. Haiwen Zhou, 2018. "A Model of Institutional Complementarities in Ancient China," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 286-304, April.
    20. Erick Kitenge & Sajal Lahiri, 2022. "Is the Internet bringing down language‐based barriers to international trade?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 566-605, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • N75 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Asia including Middle East
    • N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:112:y:2022:i:5:p:1555-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.