Spanning the Globe: the rise of global communications systems and the first globalisation Articles uri icon

authors

  • LAMPE, MARKUS
  • PLOECKL, FLORIAN

publication date

  • November 2014

start page

  • 242

end page

  • 261

issue

  • 3

volume

  • 54

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0004-8992

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1467-8446

abstract

  • After postulating the relevance of information for trade costs we outline the rise of international communication networks (mail, telegraph, telephone) during the first globalisation of the long nineteenth century. In this period, global communications systems for the first time in history provided universal access to affordable and reliable means of communication. Using a new set of internationally comparable data on global postal flows, we analyse basic determinants of international information exchange and conclude by outlining a research agenda that links these to international trade patterns and knowledge transfer between countries.

subjects

  • History

keywords

  • f15; f55; n40; n70; communication systems; first globalisation; information costs; universal postal union; gravity model; international-trade; costs; gravity