title: The Topography of Nations
abstract: How does the interplay of geography and political-economic forces affect the shape of nations?This paper presents a quantitative framework for characterizing the equilibrium evolution of national boundaries in a world with a rich geography.The framework delivers simple equilibrium conditions based on the efficient transportation of resources that arise from disparate political economic micro-foundations.I characterize the existence, uniqueness, and efficiency of the equilibrium and provide a sim
journal: National Bureau of Economic Research