Rise and Fall of Empires in the Industrial Era: A Story of Shifting Comparative Advantages / Roberto Bonfatti, Kerem Coşar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bonfatti, Roberto.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Coşar, Kerem.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30295.

NBER working paper series no. w30295

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

The last two centuries witnessed the rise and fall of empires. We construct a model which rationalises this in terms of the changing trade gains from empires. In the model, empires are arrangements that reduce trade cost between an industrial metropole and the agricultural periphery. During early industrialisation, the value of such bilateral trade increases, and so does the value of empires. As industrialisation diffuses, and as manufactures become more differentiated, trade becomes more multilateral and intra-industry, reducing the value of empires. Our results are consistent with long-term changes in income distribution and trade patterns, and with previous historical arguments.

Notes:

Print version record

July 2022.