Calendrier du 13 avril 2022
Economic History Seminar
Du 13/04/2022 de 12:00 à 13:30
Salle R1.09, Campus Jourdan
LYONS Ronan (Trinity College Dublin)
Shock of the Union – New stylised facts of Ireland’s exports, 1785-1822
écrit avec with Dan Bogart (UC Irvine), Hannah Mead Kling (Belmont Abbey) and Patrick Walsh (TCD)
The impact of trade openness on local economic outcomes remains a central topic of interest in economic research and policy debate. Historical episodes of integration and disintegration can offer valuable insights on these questions. In 1801, Ireland and Britain entered a full economic and political union, yet the consequences of this on Ireland’s economic development in the early 19th century remain poorly understood. In this paper, we assemble for the first time detailed data on the volume of Ireland’s key exports, at the port-partner-commodity level, for the period 1785-1822. When combined with newly assembled price series, they yield estimates of trade growth – by sector, region and partner – before and after Union. We document new stylised facts of Ireland’s trade during this period, including rapid growth in exports of tillage, to Britain and from a range of secondary ports. These highlight an intensification of trade significantly faster than population and economic growth and underscore the paradox of Dublin’s decline in the first decades of the 19th century.