We estimate the respective contributions of institutions, geography, and trade in determining income levels around the … world, using recently developed instruments for institutions and trade. Our results indicate that the quality of … institutions are controlled for, trade is almost always insignificant, and often enters the income equation with the 'wrong' (i …

We estimate the effect of international trade on average labour productivity across countries. Our empirical approach … relies on a summary measure of trade that, we argue, is preferable to the one conventionally used on both theoretical and … empirical grounds. In contrast to the marginally significant and non-robust effects of trade on productivity found previously …

trade patterns in a historical dataset on Chinese rice prices. Our results suggest that spatial features were important for … the expansion of interregional trade. Geography dictates, first, over what distances trade was possible in different … the direction in which a trading network is expanding. Moreover, our analysis captures the impact of new trade routes both …