When market access gains do not spur urban growth
研究德国分裂与统一对西德边境城市规模的影响，发现分裂导致城市规模快速下降，但统一后并未出现增长，可能与东德补贴有关。
Abstract We revisit the natural experiments of division and unification of Germany. The negative shock to local market access following the division of Germany led to a fast and strong downward adjustment of the size of West German cities near the new border. In contrast, the positive shock of reunification did not lead to any change in their relative size. Even three decades after reunification, no convergence can be observed. We show that local subsidies to East Germany could have contributed to this asymmetry in time.