Jacks, David S; Pendakur, Krishna - In: The Review of Economics and Statistics 92 (2010) 4, pp. 745-755
What is the role of transport improvements in globalization? We argue that the nineteenth century is the ideal testing ground: maritime freight rates fell on average by 50% while global trade increased 400% from 1870 to 1913. We estimate the first indices of bilateral freight rates and directly...