The impact of land redistribution on structural transformation is ambiguous. While large landowners may hinder industrialization by restricting access to education, larger farm scale can facilitate mechanization and productivity growth. This study uses novel fine-grained data to examine the long-term effects of the 1950 Italian land reform, which redistributed land from large landowners to landless farmers. Employing two difference-in-differences strategies, we find that the reform significantly slowed industrialization in affected municipalities, which, fifty years after the reform, exhibited an agricultural employment share approximately 70% higher than the estimated counterfactual scenario. Reductions in agglomeration and occupational mobility emerge as key mechanisms, while education seemingly played a limited role. Finally, we show that the reform significantly hindered the overall economic growth of affected municipalities between 1970 and 2000.
{"title":"Persistent specialization and growth: The Italian land reform","authors":"Riccardo Bianchi-Vimercati , Giampaolo Lecce , Matteo Magnaricotte","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of land redistribution on structural transformation is ambiguous. While large landowners may hinder industrialization by restricting access to education, larger farm scale can facilitate mechanization and productivity growth. This study uses novel fine-grained data to examine the long-term effects of the 1950 Italian land reform, which redistributed land from large landowners to landless farmers. Employing two difference-in-differences strategies, we find that the reform significantly slowed industrialization in affected municipalities, which, fifty years after the reform, exhibited an agricultural employment share approximately 70% higher than the estimated counterfactual scenario. Reductions in agglomeration and occupational mobility emerge as key mechanisms, while education seemingly played a limited role. Finally, we show that the reform significantly hindered the overall economic growth of affected municipalities between 1970 and 2000.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"100 ","pages":"Article 101739"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145961804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-04DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101738
Natalya Naumenko
This article studies the changes in the Soviet population and the urbanization patterns after the 1933 famine. It documents several new facts. (1) Although most of the direct victims lived in rural areas, the famine is associated with persistent differences in the urban population. Comparing more affected areas to less affected ones, in the long run, there are no differences in the rural population, but urban settlements in more affected areas are comparatively smaller. (2) Consistent with this pattern, in the long run, there are no differences in grain production and sown area, but electricity production is relatively smaller in more affected areas. (3) These differences were not planned in the First Five-Year Plan (1928–1933), but subsequent plans may have incorporated and exacerbated the differences in urbanization that occurred during the years of rural crisis. The paper argues that labor shortages during the crucial years of rapid industrialization hindered the development of cities in famine-stricken areas. Thus, the timing of the shock to the population is important. While established urban networks tend to recover from large temporary negative shocks, labor shortages during construction and rapid growth might have a permanent negative impact.
{"title":"Economic consequences of the 1933 Soviet famine","authors":"Natalya Naumenko","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101738","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101738","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article studies the changes in the Soviet population and the urbanization patterns after the 1933 famine. It documents several new facts. (1) Although most of the direct victims lived in rural areas, the famine is associated with persistent differences in the urban population. Comparing more affected areas to less affected ones, in the long run, there are no differences in the rural population, but urban settlements in more affected areas are comparatively smaller. (2) Consistent with this pattern, in the long run, there are no differences in grain production and sown area, but electricity production is relatively smaller in more affected areas. (3) These differences were not planned in the First Five-Year Plan (1928–1933), but subsequent plans may have incorporated and exacerbated the differences in urbanization that occurred during the years of rural crisis. The paper argues that labor shortages during the crucial years of rapid industrialization hindered the development of cities in famine-stricken areas. Thus, the timing of the shock to the population is important. While established urban networks tend to recover from large temporary negative shocks, labor shortages during construction and rapid growth might have a permanent negative impact.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"100 ","pages":"Article 101738"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145897360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101736
Rui Esteves , Gabriel Geisler Mesevage
This paper studies the behavior of specialist dealers operating in the London Stock Exchange in the 1870s. The LSE was a free-entry exclusive dealers market, where dealers were free to choose which securities to deal in. We show that dealers concentrated their market making in the most liquid securities. A combination of adverse selection and inventory costs prevented the development of liquid markets in most securities, with dealers opting instead to provide matchmaking services. Our results call for a reappreciation of the liquidity of the London market and offer a new interpretation of stylized facts about the Victorian investor behavior.
{"title":"Missing markets. Microstructure and liquidity on the London Stock Exchange","authors":"Rui Esteves , Gabriel Geisler Mesevage","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101736","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101736","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies the behavior of specialist dealers operating in the London Stock Exchange in the 1870s. The LSE was a free-entry exclusive dealers market, where dealers were free to choose which securities to deal in. We show that dealers concentrated their market making in the most liquid securities. A combination of adverse selection and inventory costs prevented the development of liquid markets in most securities, with dealers opting instead to provide matchmaking services. Our results call for a reappreciation of the liquidity of the London market and offer a new interpretation of stylized facts about the Victorian investor behavior.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101736"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145785796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101737
Daniel Oto-Peralías
This paper investigates the consequences of delegating governmental authority to private actors through the study of lordships, a pivotal political institution in historical Europe. I first document a negative relationship between being a seigneurial town and central state capacity in ancien-regime Spain. Next, I focus on the Kingdom of Granada after its conquest by Castile in 1492 to leverage on that the initial distribution of lordships was conditionally exogenous, with the results corroborating the negative effect of lordships on state capacity. I further show two additional important results. First, the effect is very persistent, with former lordships towns featuring less state capacity almost a century after the abolition of the seigneurial regime. Second, there is a non-monotonic effect on economic growth. Contrary to conventional wisdom, lordships towns did not underperform royal towns during the Ancien Régime. Yet, despite not having started with disadvantage, former seigneurial towns experienced lower population growth from the 1910s onwards, a period in which the Spanish state started to play a bigger investment role. Thus, towns with historically less state presence benefited less from state’s investments, lagging behind.
{"title":"Delegating governmental authority to private actors: Lordships, state capacity and development","authors":"Daniel Oto-Peralías","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101737","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101737","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the consequences of delegating governmental authority to private actors through the study of lordships, a pivotal political institution in historical Europe. I first document a negative relationship between being a seigneurial town and central state capacity in ancien-regime Spain. Next, I focus on the Kingdom of Granada after its conquest by Castile in 1492 to leverage on that the initial distribution of lordships was conditionally exogenous, with the results corroborating the negative effect of lordships on state capacity. I further show two additional important results. First, the effect is very persistent, with former lordships towns featuring less state capacity almost a century after the abolition of the seigneurial regime. Second, there is a non-monotonic effect on economic growth. Contrary to conventional wisdom, lordships towns did not underperform royal towns during the Ancien Régime. Yet, despite not having started with disadvantage, former seigneurial towns experienced lower population growth from the 1910s onwards, a period in which the Spanish state started to play a bigger investment role. Thus, towns with historically less state presence benefited less from state’s investments, lagging behind.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101737"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145732699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-02DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101735
Mark Stelzner , William Darity Jr.
In this paper, we analyze the direct economic functions of White-on-Black violence in the Jim Crow South. As we will see, White-on-Black violence was used to control Black labor and to seize gains made by Black agriculturalists. We find that White-on-Black lynchings during the pre-harvest period were used by White landlords to increase the total amount of man-hours expended by Black sharecroppers. We also find that the occurrence of one or more White-on-Black lynchings in a given county is associated with a 1.9 percent decrease in Black landownership in the same county in each of the three years following said lynching, and we find that the 1912 Forsyth Massacre and the 1906 Atlanta Massacre had even larger effects. Given the high frequency of White-on-Black violence in the Jim Crow South, the impact on Black labor and the cumulative effect on Black landownership and town and city property were huge.
{"title":"The economic functions of extrajudicial violence in the Jim Crow South","authors":"Mark Stelzner , William Darity Jr.","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101735","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, we analyze the direct economic functions of White-on-Black violence in the Jim Crow South. As we will see, White-on-Black violence was used to control Black labor and to seize gains made by Black agriculturalists. We find that White-on-Black lynchings during the pre-harvest period were used by White landlords to increase the total amount of man-hours expended by Black sharecroppers. We also find that the occurrence of one or more White-on-Black lynchings in a given county is associated with a 1.9 percent decrease in Black landownership in the same county in each of the three years following said lynching, and we find that the 1912 Forsyth Massacre and the 1906 Atlanta Massacre had even larger effects. Given the high frequency of White-on-Black violence in the Jim Crow South, the impact on Black labor and the cumulative effect on Black landownership and town and city property were huge.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101735"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145657194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-29DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101734
Melanie Meng Xue
This paper evaluates the usefulness of crowd-sourced Chinese genealogical data for quantitative research in demography and economic history. I first examine whether genealogies — despite well-known selection biases — produce demographic patterns consistent with established historical knowledge of China. Comparisons with existing studies show that aggregate population-growth trends and sex ratios over time align reasonably well with established demographic and historical findings, suggesting that genealogies, though selective, capture coherent and interpretable patterns. Building on these plausibility checks, the paper argues that the main value of genealogical data lies in their scalability and temporal depth, particularly as crowd-sourced digitization vastly expands the number of available records. These features make genealogies well suited to analyses that leverage variation across regions and over time, an approach that is central in modern economic history.
{"title":"Crowd-sourced Chinese genealogies as data for demographic and economic history","authors":"Melanie Meng Xue","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper evaluates the usefulness of crowd-sourced Chinese genealogical data for quantitative research in demography and economic history. I first examine whether genealogies — despite well-known selection biases — produce demographic patterns consistent with established historical knowledge of China. Comparisons with existing studies show that aggregate population-growth trends and sex ratios over time align reasonably well with established demographic and historical findings, suggesting that genealogies, though selective, capture coherent and interpretable patterns. Building on these plausibility checks, the paper argues that the main value of genealogical data lies in their scalability and temporal depth, particularly as crowd-sourced digitization vastly expands the number of available records. These features make genealogies well suited to analyses that leverage variation across regions and over time, an approach that is central in modern economic history.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101734"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145691467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-25DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101722
Kota Ogasawara
I analyze the risk-coping strategies of factory–worker households in early twentieth-century Tokyo. I digitized a unique daily longitudinal household budget survey conducted in Tsukishima, a representative manufacturing area, to examine how consumption was affected by idiosyncratic shocks. I find that although the households were vulnerable and their consumption levels were impacted by these shocks, the estimated income elasticity of indispensable consumption was relatively low in the short run. The results of the mechanism analysis suggest that credit purchases from local retailers helped smooth short-run consumption, highlighting the role of informal credit institutions in mitigating vulnerability among urban worker households.
{"title":"Risk-coping behaviors in metropolis: Evidence from working-class households in Prewar Tokyo","authors":"Kota Ogasawara","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101722","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101722","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>I analyze the risk-coping strategies of factory–worker households in early twentieth-century Tokyo. I digitized a unique daily longitudinal household budget survey conducted in Tsukishima, a representative manufacturing area, to examine how consumption was affected by idiosyncratic shocks. I find that although the households were vulnerable and their consumption levels were impacted by these shocks, the estimated income elasticity of indispensable consumption was relatively low in the short run. The results of the mechanism analysis suggest that credit purchases from local retailers helped smooth short-run consumption, highlighting the role of informal credit institutions in mitigating vulnerability among urban worker households.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101722"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145598802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-25DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101732
Hélder Carvalhal , Nuno Palma
We investigate the well-being of urban workers in Angola under colonialism. Using a newly compiled dataset derived from archival and secondary sources, we construct welfare ratios for both skilled and unskilled workers in the cities of Luanda and Benguela from 1760 to 1975. Our findings indicate that Angolan workers experienced lower economic prosperity compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world. Living standards declined during the 19th century, followed by a recovery emerging in the 20th century — particularly from the mid-1960s.
{"title":"Living standards in Angola, 1760–19751","authors":"Hélder Carvalhal , Nuno Palma","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101732","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101732","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the well-being of urban workers in Angola under colonialism. Using a newly compiled dataset derived from archival and secondary sources, we construct welfare ratios for both skilled and unskilled workers in the cities of Luanda and Benguela from 1760 to 1975. Our findings indicate that Angolan workers experienced lower economic prosperity compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world. Living standards declined during the 19th century, followed by a recovery emerging in the 20th century — particularly from the mid-1960s.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101732"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145599248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101733
Bas Machielsen
Between about 1850 and 1920, Western Europe underwent a period of democratization and liberalization, resulting in the expansion of government and the establishment of universal suffrage. This paper examines the impact of politicians’ personal wealth on this process, with a focus on the case of The Netherlands, using data from newly-collected probate inventories as a measure of politicians’ wealth. The paper finds that the wealth of parliaments decreased significantly over time, and that richer politicians were more likely to vote against fiscal legislation, suggesting that personal wealth negatively influenced the probability of increasing taxes and played a role in determining government size. The analyses presented in the paper support a causal interpretation of these results. However, the study finds no significant relationship between politicians’ personal wealth and their voting behavior on suffrage extensions.
{"title":"Democratization, personal wealth of politicians and voting behavior","authors":"Bas Machielsen","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101733","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101733","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Between about 1850 and 1920, Western Europe underwent a period of democratization and liberalization, resulting in the expansion of government and the establishment of universal suffrage. This paper examines the impact of politicians’ personal wealth on this process, with a focus on the case of The Netherlands, using data from newly-collected probate inventories as a measure of politicians’ wealth. The paper finds that the wealth of parliaments decreased significantly over time, and that richer politicians were more likely to vote against fiscal legislation, suggesting that personal wealth negatively influenced the probability of increasing taxes and played a role in determining government size. The analyses presented in the paper support a causal interpretation of these results. However, the study finds no significant relationship between politicians’ personal wealth and their voting behavior on suffrage extensions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101733"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145575568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101723
Luu Duc Toan Huynh , Kiet Tuan Duong
Using a unique dataset of 3,022 elites from the Ly to Nguyen dynasties (1075–1919) and 1,324 recent associate (and full) professors (2021–2023), we find that regions with more historical elites have more modern professors. Using the distance to the school exam venue and the distance to the coastal areas as instrumental variables, we establish such a causal relationship. In addition, social capital benefits those from areas dense with historical elites. We analyze data from temples, schools, and streets named after elites to identify cultural mechanisms linking historical elites to contemporary academic roles in Vietnam. This study demonstrates the lasting impact of historical traditions on human capital today in Confucian contexts.
{"title":"A land of sages: A legacy of former elites and university professors in Vietnam","authors":"Luu Duc Toan Huynh , Kiet Tuan Duong","doi":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101723","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101723","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using a unique dataset of 3,022 elites from the Ly to Nguyen dynasties (1075–1919) and 1,324 recent associate (and full) professors (2021–2023), we find that regions with more historical elites have more modern professors. Using the distance to the school exam venue and the distance to the coastal areas as instrumental variables, we establish such a causal relationship. In addition, social capital benefits those from areas dense with historical elites. We analyze data from temples, schools, and streets named after elites to identify cultural mechanisms linking historical elites to contemporary academic roles in Vietnam. This study demonstrates the lasting impact of historical traditions on human capital today in Confucian contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47413,"journal":{"name":"Explorations in Economic History","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 101723"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145553696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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