ASYMMETRIC TRADING COSTS AND ANCIENT GREEK CITIES 1
Type
working paper
Date Issued
2025-12-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Asymmetric transport costs arise when shipping times from point i to point j differ from shipping from point j to i. We show that such asymmetric transport costs predict distinct patterns of location in a class of models using Dixit-Stiglitz preferences, where advantage in import potential is more beneficial than that in export potential. We then study factors affecting the location of cities in Hellas, ancient Greece. Prevailing winds create an environment of asymmetric trade costs in ancient Greece. We show that predictions of these models are consistent with the location of ancient cities. We use 2SLS methods to assess the role of market access measures in determining urban settlements and find significant differences between the coefficients for export and import market access.
Keywords
JEL Codes: F10
N70
N90
R12 ancient urbanization
intercity trade
asymmetric trading costs
economic geography
spatial models
transportation networks
network centrality
systems of cities
market access
ancient Greek cities
ancient hellenic world
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Subject(s)
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Name
Chen_Ioannides_Rauch_Asymmetric_Aug_30_23.pdf
Size
4.9 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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