Internal Borders and Population Geography in the Unification of Italy
利用统一前后的人口数据作为经济活动的代理变量，研究发现意大利统一后，原边界附近地区因市场准入改善而加速增长，揭示了统一对区域市场整合和经济发展的贡献。
We offer new evidence on the spatial economic impact of Italian unification. Adopting municipal population as a proxy for local economic activity, we construct a new geocoded dataset spanning the pre- and post-unification periods and discover robust evidence of an acceleration in growth near the former borders. A disproportionate improvement in market access boosted growth in these locations when barriers to trade were dismantled. Indirectly, unification’s decisive contribution to intraregional market integration, local specialization and exchange, and economic development is revealed.