We assess the impact of access to Bangkok’s nineteenth-century canal network on orchard productivity using a new dataset constructed from 1880s orchard land deeds. We find that properties located adjacent to canals, which were built for purposes exogenous to orchard production, had significantly higher labor productivity than those located inland. Gaining direct access to canals led to productivity improvements through better access to markets, which in turn enhanced cultivators’ welfare. We conclude, based on a method developed by Oster (2019), that unobserved selection bias is negligible, allowing for the positive impact of canal access to be interpreted as causal.

中文翻译：

---

运河和果园：交通网络接入对 19 世纪曼谷农业生产力的影响

我们使用根据 1880 年代果园土地契约构建的新数据集，评估进入曼谷 19 世纪运河网络对果园生产力的影响。我们发现，位于运河附近的地产，其建造目的与果园生产无关，其劳动生产率明显高于内陆地产。直接进入运河通过更好地进入市场而提高了生产力，这反过来又提高了耕种者的福利。我们得出结论，基于 Oster (2019) 开发的一种方法，未​​观察到的选择偏差可以忽略不计，允许将运河通道的积极影响解释为因果关系。