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Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 126 No. 2 2011

The Potato's Contribution to Population and Urbanization: Evidence From A Historical Experiment

Nathan Nunn1,2,3,4,5,6; Nancy Qian1,2,3,4,5,6

1 Boston University · 2 Tufts University · 3 Harvard University · 4 Princeton University · 5 Bread for the World Institute · 6 University of Chicago

open access

Abstract

We exploit regional variation in suitability for cultivating potatoes, together with time variation arising from their introduction to the Old World from the Americas, to estimate the impact of potatoes on Old World population and urbanization. Our results show that the introduction of the potato was responsible for a significant portion of the increase in population and urbanization observed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. According to our most conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato accounts for approximately one-quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900. Additional evidence from within-country comparisons of city populations and adult heights also confirms the cross-country findings.

DOI
10.1093/qje/qjr009
Volume
126
Issue
2
Pages
593-650
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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