Immigration and Development: German-Speaking Settlers and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Hungary

In this seminar, Dr Nikolic will present his work on the effect of German immigration to Hungary and its impact on agricultural production. Historical German migration to Central Europe made a persistent impact on local economic development. After prolonged warfare between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, German-speaking agricultural settlers helped repopulate newly conquered parts of Hungary during the 18th century. In a sample of 5,000 towns and villages in areas affected by German immigration, geographical proximity to 18th-century German settlements increased farm productivity in the mid-19th century and even in the early 20th century. This finding remains robust after controlling for initial conditions, geography, religion, and other potential confounding factors and is consistent with historical accounts of higher land productivity mainly because of higher specialization in crop farming and viniculture and the application of intensive farming methods.

Speaker

Dr Stefan Nikolić is a research fellow in the Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy at Bocconi University. His research focuses on the determinants of spatial disparities in economic performance, with cultural, geographical, and historical economics as main research fields.

Image credit: akos147 on Pixabay