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Foreign wars, domestic markets: England, 1793–1815

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2011

DAVID S. JACKS*
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University and NBER, Department of Economics, 8888 University Drive, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, [email protected]
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Abstract

This article explores the means by which warfare influences domestic commodity markets. It is argued that England during the French Wars provides an ideal testing ground. Four categories of explanatory variables are taken as likely sources of documented changes in English commodity price disintegration during this period: weather, trade, policy and wartime events. Empirically, increases in price dispersion are related to all of the above categories. However, the primary means identified by which warfare influenced domestic commodity market integration was through international trade linkages and the arrival of news regarding wartime events.

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Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © European Historical Economics Society 2011

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