Persistence of cities: Evidence from China

Abstract

Using data from the Qing dynasty, we investigate the long‐run impact of early development on today's living standards in China. We use city‐level population density in 1776 as a measure of early economic prosperity, and examine how it is associated with today's development indicators such as the average night light density, GDP per capita, average years of schooling, and trade openness. We find that cities which were more prosperous during the Qing dynasty are now also brighter, richer, more educated, and more open.

The economic challenges and opportunities of urbanization and migration in China

“…Other areas of research include the potential socioeconomic attributes and implications of the Chinese urbanization process; see, for example, Cui et al. (2018) and Duan and Unel (2019). The selection of these research topics reflects the fact that the Chinese urbanization process remains one of the most remarkable, and to some extent unique, features of the Chinese reforms.…”