We study the relationship between tariffs and labor productivity in US manufacturing between 1870 and 1909. Using highly dis-aggregated tariff data, state-industry data for the manufacturing sector, and an instrumental variable strategy, results show that tariffs reduced labor productivity....

Over the last 200 years, economies have accumulated significant experience in managing capital flows in the face of globalization. This study examines management of capital flows since the 1800s with an eye towards providing historical lessons for Southeast Asia today. We start with the global...

For all its importance, there still is no comprehensive quantitative assessment of the Suez Canal's opening in 1869. We find that it led to a 72% relative increase in bilateral exports for affected country pairs and a likely permanent increase in world trade. With respect to the composition of...

We explore changes in product quality during France's major liberalization episode of the mid-nineteenth century. Using new data and existing techniques from the international trade literature, we investigate the relative quality of French products versus those of international competitors,...

National registries of toxic chemical emissions and facilities are increasingly used to raise public awareness of potential health hazards in local areas, but an unintended consequence may be the offshoring of production to less regulated countries. Using disaggregated U.S. trade data, this...

type="main" xml:lang="en" <p>Large family-owned conglomerates known as zaibatsu have long been credited with leading Japanese industrialization during the Meiji period (1868–1912), despite a lack of empirical analysis. Using a new dataset collected from corporate genealogies to estimate entry...</p>