ABSTRACT There is a large literature on the impact of railways on price convergence. Ignored, however, is the role of another potentially important network: post offices. By providing timely information on arbitrage and trade opportunities, post offices could also contribute to market integration. This paper tests that proposition in the context of British Indian grain markets. Rice and wheat markets in colonial India saw a broad convergence in prices during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Research suggests that railways mattered, but are capable of explaining only some of that convergence. This paper tests whether the spread of post offices also contributed to that price convergence. We find that it did, though the effects shrink in the presence of railways. Estimates suggest that between 1881 and 1911, post office growth reduced price dispersion by 20–24% of the total decline in Indian grain price dispersion. The precise mechanism through which these effects operate, however, is less clear.

中文翻译：

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邮局和英属印度谷物价格趋同

摘要关于铁路对价格趋同的影响，已有大量文献。但是，忽略了另一个潜在的重要网络的角色：邮局。通过及时提供有关套利和贸易机会的信息，邮局还可以促进市场一体化。本文在英属印度谷物市场的背景下检验了这一主张。在19世纪后期和20世纪初，印度殖民地印度的稻米和小麦市场价格出现了广泛的趋同。研究表明，铁路固然重要，但只能解释其中的某些融合。本文测试了邮局的价差是否也促成了这种价格趋同。我们发现确实如此，尽管在铁路的存在下影响会缩小。据估计，在1881年和1911年之间，邮局的增长使价格差异减少了印度谷物价格差异总下降幅度的20-24％。但是，这些作用的确切机理尚不清楚。