Canals and Orchards: The Impact of Transport Network Access on Agricultural Productivity in Nineteenth-Century Bangkok
利用19世纪80年代曼谷果园地契数据，研究发现靠近运河的果园劳动生产率显著高于内陆果园，且这种正向影响可解释为因果关系。
We assess the impact of access to Bangkok’s nineteenth-century canal network on orchard productivity using a new dataset constructed from 1880s orchard land deeds. We find that properties located adjacent to canals, which were built for purposes exogenous to orchard production, had significantly higher labor productivity than those located inland. Gaining direct access to canals led to productivity improvements through better access to markets, which in turn enhanced cultivators’ welfare. We conclude, based on a method developed by Oster (2019), that unobserved selection bias is negligible, allowing for the positive impact of canal access to be interpreted as causal.