A Perfect Storm: First-Nature Geography and Economic Development

2024/08/01 by Christian Vedel, Vedel, Christian · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research #FOS: Economics and business #General Economics (econ.GN) #Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2408.00885

openalex publication_date 2024/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

First-nature geography shapes the location of prosperity. I provide evidence by investigating the effects when it suddenly changes. In 1825 a storm breached the Agger Isthmus. This connected Denmark's west Limfjord Region to the North Sea. I demonstrate that trade followed. Prosperity relocated with it: population rose 27.0 percent within a generation - an elasticity of 1.6 relative to market access - with occupational shifts toward fishing and manufacturing. Fertility, not migration, drove the expansion. A mirror experiment, the waterway's closure circa 1086-1208, caused symmetric declines in medieval coin and building finds.

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• Networks in trade — Evidence from the legacy of the Hanseatic league

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