The Economics of the Frontier

Focusing on the economics of frontier establishment, the book explores both conquest and peaceful settlement, analyzing the associated costs and optimal territorial expansion. It reviews significant literature on frontiers and presents a foundational theoretical model that is applied to various historical contexts. Key case studies include the territorial divisions among the Byzantine Empire, Islam, and Western Europe, the Mongol Empire's expansion, the effects of the Black Death, the New World discovery, the staples trade from 1870-1914, and banditry in Brazil.