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All roads lead to market integration : lessons from a spatial analysis of the wheat market in 18th century Spain

L. Cermeño, Alexandra LU orcid and Santiago Caballero, Carlos (2020) In Working Papers in Economic History
Abstract
This paper uses newly collected data from a large-scale census (Catastro de la Ensenada) to investigate the scale and causes of market integration in eighteenth century Spain. We use wheat prices observed in more than 5,200 municipalities to analyse the local spatial dependence of prices. We detect several regional clusters in the centre and coasts but find that these were not integrated with each other. We then investigate the first nature, second nature, and demand side determinants of these clusters and find that although geographical constrains like terrain roughness play a negatively significant role, the transportation network allowed connected municipalities to alleviate such obstacles. Our results suggest that unfavourable... (More)
This paper uses newly collected data from a large-scale census (Catastro de la Ensenada) to investigate the scale and causes of market integration in eighteenth century Spain. We use wheat prices observed in more than 5,200 municipalities to analyse the local spatial dependence of prices. We detect several regional clusters in the centre and coasts but find that these were not integrated with each other. We then investigate the first nature, second nature, and demand side determinants of these clusters and find that although geographical constrains like terrain roughness play a negatively significant role, the transportation network allowed connected municipalities to alleviate such obstacles. Our results suggest that unfavourable geographical conditions can be overcome by investments in transportation infrastructures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
early modern, Market integration, grain markets, prices, geography
in
Working Papers in Economic History
issue
2020-02
pages
90 pages
publisher
Working papers in Economic History, Departamento de Historica Economica e Instituciones, Instituto Figuerola de historia y ciencias socials, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
ISSN
2341-2542
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d35d0212-6de4-400e-aa4d-e75630fa05e2
alternative location
https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/handle/10016/30247/wh2002.pdf?sequence=1
date added to LUP
2020-05-06 11:10:56
date last changed
2021-12-05 02:15:48
@misc{d35d0212-6de4-400e-aa4d-e75630fa05e2,
  abstract     = {{This paper uses newly collected data from a large-scale census (Catastro de la Ensenada) to investigate the scale and causes of market integration in eighteenth century Spain. We use wheat prices observed in more than 5,200 municipalities to analyse the local spatial dependence of prices. We detect several regional clusters in the centre and coasts but find that these were not integrated with each other. We then investigate the first nature, second nature, and demand side determinants of these clusters and find that although geographical constrains like terrain roughness play a negatively significant role, the transportation network allowed connected municipalities to alleviate such obstacles. Our results suggest that unfavourable geographical conditions can be overcome by investments in transportation infrastructures.}},
  author       = {{L. Cermeño, Alexandra and Santiago Caballero, Carlos}},
  issn         = {{2341-2542}},
  keywords     = {{early modern; Market integration; grain markets; prices; geography}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2020-02}},
  publisher    = {{Working papers in Economic History, Departamento de Historica Economica e Instituciones, Instituto Figuerola de historia y ciencias socials, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid}},
  series       = {{Working Papers in Economic History}},
  title        = {{All roads lead to market integration : lessons from a spatial analysis of the wheat market in 18th century Spain}},
  url          = {{https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/handle/10016/30247/wh2002.pdf?sequence=1}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}