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Historical Legacies and Urbanization: Evidence from Chinese Concessions

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  • Gan Jin
  • Günther G. Schulze

    (Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg)

Abstract

Can colonialism affect today’s urban outcomes? This paper examines the long-run impact of Concessions - foreign-run enclaves established in the late nineteenth century inside Chinese cities by European settlers for residence and investment purposes. They soon became the new economic hubs of their hosting cities. By using a unique dataset of geo-referenced apartment transactions and by employing a spatial regression discontinuity approach to identify the causality, we find that apartments located inside historical Concession areas command a price premium of 17% compared to similar homes just outside of the Concession boundaries. We show that the long-run economic effect of Concessions may be explained by better access to urban facilities in these areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Gan Jin & Günther G. Schulze, 2024. "Historical Legacies and Urbanization: Evidence from Chinese Concessions," Discussion Paper Series 47 JEL Classification: N9, Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg, revised Feb 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:fre:wpaper:47
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    Cited by:

    1. Gan Jin & Günther G. Schulze, 2024. "The Long-term Effect of Western Customs Institution on Firm Innovation in China," Discussion Paper Series 46 JEL Classification: N7, Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg, revised Feb 2024.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Colonialism; Housing price; Urbanization; Persistence; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies
    • R50 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - General

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