Agricultural Diversity, Structural Change, and Long-Run Development: Evidence from the United States
利用美国县级数据，研究发现19世纪中叶的农业多样性通过促进工业化、制造业多样化、专利活动和技能形成，对长期人口密度和人均收入产生积极影响。
This paper examines the role of agricultural diversity in the process of development. Using data from US counties and exploiting climate-induced variation in agricultural production patterns, I show that mid-nineteenth-century agricultural diversity had positive long-run effects on population density and income per capita. During the Second Industrial Revolution, agricultural diversity fostered industrialization, diversification within manufacturing, patent activity, formation of new labor skills, and the expansion of knowledge- and skill-intensive industries. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that diversity spurs the acquisition of new ideas and new skills because of the presence of cross-sector spillovers and complementarities.