Data and Code for: Communication Infrastructure and Stabilizing Food Prices: Evidence from the Telegraph Network in China
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Yu-Hsiang Lei, Yale-NUS College; Pei Gao, NYU Shanghai
Version: View help for Version V1
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| Code-and-data-files | 09/30/2020 06:36:AM | ||
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application/pdf | 100.6 KB | 09/30/2020 05:26:AM |
Project Citation:
Lei, Yu-Hsiang, and Gao, Pei. Data and Code for: Communication Infrastructure and Stabilizing Food Prices: Evidence from the Telegraph Network in China. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-06-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/E119685V1
Project Description
Summary:
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This paper exploits a unique historical setting — the expansion of the telegraph network in the 19th century China when railroads were limited — to examine whether the reduction of information frictions stabilizes grain prices. Employing a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that the telegraph access: 1) reduced both the magnitude and the incidence of extreme prices; 2) mitigated price responses to local weather shocks, but increased the responsiveness to shocks in other telegraph-connected regions; 3) affected the price volatility in a mean-reverting pattern, i.e. volatility rose in previously price-stable regions and volatility decreased in price-unstable regions.
Scope of Project
JEL Classification:
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D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
F14 Empirical Studies of Trade
L96 Telecommunications
N75 Economic History: Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: Asia including Middle East
Q11 Agriculture: Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
F14 Empirical Studies of Trade
L96 Telecommunications
N75 Economic History: Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: Asia including Middle East
Q11 Agriculture: Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
Geographic Coverage:
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China
Time Period(s):
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1870 – 1904
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