After the fall of the Roman Empire, urban life in France became a shadow of its former self, but in Britain it completely disappeared. Guy Michaels and Ferdinand Rauch use these contrasting experiences as a natural experiment to explore the impact of history on economic geography – and what leads cities to get stuck in undesirable locations.

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Guy Michaels and Ferdinand Rauch

5 February 2014     Paper Number CEPCP408

Download PDF - Can cities be trapped in bad locations?

This CentrePiece article is published under the centre's Labour markets programme.