TY - JOUR
T1 - War shocks, migration, and historical spatial development in China
AU - Chen, Ting
AU - Kung, James Kai Sing
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the guest editors of this special issue, Laurent Gobillon and Stephan Heblich, and two anonymous referees for constructive comments and suggestions on an earlier draft. The remaining errors are ours. James Kung acknowledges Sein and Isaac Souede for generous financial support.
Funding Information:
James Kung would like to thank Sein and Isaac Souede for generous financial support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - North China was traditionally the cradle of civilization in China, and yet most of its largest cities today are located in the south. Using a unique gridded (1∗1°) data set of population density for nearly two millennia, we show that the center of economic gravity had gradually shifted to the south between the 3rd and 12th centuries as a result of mass migration, of which nomadic intrusions were the key driving force. Evidence shows that the destination regions saw significant growth in population density and urban agglomeration after each wave of migration. Moreover, as it was the elites who spearheaded the migratory move, they not only brought with them their own (upper-tail) human capital, but also perpetuated a persistence of human capital investment over time as manifested in a significantly higher density of jinshi scholars in the imperial civil service exam and number of Confucian academies in the past, and years of schooling today.
AB - North China was traditionally the cradle of civilization in China, and yet most of its largest cities today are located in the south. Using a unique gridded (1∗1°) data set of population density for nearly two millennia, we show that the center of economic gravity had gradually shifted to the south between the 3rd and 12th centuries as a result of mass migration, of which nomadic intrusions were the key driving force. Evidence shows that the destination regions saw significant growth in population density and urban agglomeration after each wave of migration. Moreover, as it was the elites who spearheaded the migratory move, they not only brought with them their own (upper-tail) human capital, but also perpetuated a persistence of human capital investment over time as manifested in a significantly higher density of jinshi scholars in the imperial civil service exam and number of Confucian academies in the past, and years of schooling today.
KW - China
KW - Historical spatial development
KW - Human capital
KW - Migration
KW - Population density
KW - War shocks
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112789361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103718
DO - 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103718
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85112789361
SN - 0166-0462
VL - 94
JO - Regional Science and Urban Economics
JF - Regional Science and Urban Economics
M1 - 103718
ER -