) there are sizable spillovers across ports, as investing in one port can decongest a wider set of ports, suggesting that …Transportation infrastructure is vital for the smooth functioning of international trade. Ports are a crucial gateway … operate efficiently. Yet ports are susceptible to disruptions, causing costly delays. With enormous budgets spent on …

we show in simulations. We use the locations of ancient ports near the Mediterranean, which seeded modern cities, to … shadows emerge for large cities around ancient ports. These patterns extend to modern city locations more generally, and …