ECIN Replication Package for "The Long-Run Agglomeration Effects of Early Agriculture in Europe"

<div>These codes and data allow replication of all results in the paper "The Long-Run Agglomeration Effects of Early Agriculture in Europe", to be published in <i>Economic Inquiry</i>.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Abstract of the paper:</b> We study the effects of an early introduction of agriculture (Neolithic Transition) on modern agglomeration, using a new dataset on carbon dated organic materials found at archaeological sites in Northern Europe. We find a positive effect of early agriculture, in particular within countries, which contrasts with a negative or zero correlation found in older data covering a larger region that includes both Europe and the Middle East. However, we argue that these patterns are actually consistent with each other, because early agriculture can exert (1) positive long-run effects on urban agglomeration, while also giving rise to (2) extractive state institutions, which can hamper economic development. While (2) shows up in comparisons between countries and regions with more varied long-run development paths, such as the Middle East and Europe, (1) is easier to find within more homogeneous regions, such as Northern Europe, and especially within countries. We corroborate this interpretation with evidence of earlier city development close to sites with earlier Neolithic Transitions.</div><br><br>