Roads or Rivers: Ecuador’s Infrastructure Stockbefore the Banana Boom (1948-1952)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18272/usfqer.vi2.2866Keywords:
History, Banana, Ecuador, Cacao, Panamá diseaseAbstract
This paper questions whether road stock in 1947 or distance to rivers correlates with four outcome variables regarding banana production from the 1954 census: sowed area, harvested area, number of plantations and output at the cantonal level. I use geo-referenced data on the existing road network in 1947 and the mean distance to a river or lake as measures. I found no correlation between the road network and the outcome variables. Meanwhile, an increase of one kilometer in the distance to a river or lake at the cantonal level is correlated with a decrease of 21 plantations. The results suggest that public investment in road infrastructure came after the banana boom.
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