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Christian Vedel

@christianvedel.bsky.social

1.6K followers 1.8K following 70 posts

Assistant Professor at @sdueconhist.bsky.social, University of Southern Denmark. Interested in Economic Geography, Machine Learning and Causal Inference in Economic History. https://sites.google.com/view/christianvedel

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 4

🚨New language model for historical occupations🚨
OccCANINE is a new tool, which turns occupational descriptions (in all their pesky variety) into standard HISCO codes. Accurate, multilingual and fast. Developed by
Christian M. Dahl, Torben Johansen, and myself (1/12)

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · 16d

So, as was recently announced, I'll be dealing with all of the great working papers flowing into this series in the future. Keep them coming! ehes.org/working-pape...

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · 28d

PS: You can already use the updated model by cloning the 'dev' branch rather than the 'main' branch (usual disclaimers for dev versions of things). Updated paper in the pipeline. Stay tuned!

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · 28d

Wonder what has been happening with this for the past year? In August I gave this presentation at the Data Intensive Research Conference at IPUMS. In brief, OccCANINE is now better and more robust. For now, check the video: youtu.be/pwq1E6087vE?...

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Reposted by Christian Vedel

Joseph Enguehard @enguehard.bsky.social · Aug 1

What a pleasure to chair a fantastic session on advanced methods at the WEHC in Lund with @cedricchambru.bsky.social — and to learn about fancy work in NLP, census linking, and more!

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

So now it's a "gotcha"? I am sorry for assuming arguments in good faith. I'd love learn something new. That's why I engage in things like this. I am not interested if this is just some game to you. Your point is mildly interesting but semantic and trivially not important. But thanks for the interest

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

What stands is this: There is a conventional definition of First Nature Geography on which this fits. And here is a case, where this suddenly changes, and we can observe how the economy reacts to it. And I am pleased to take that this apparently piqued your interest enough to have a long debate(3/3)

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

interesting debate that probably deserves a sepperate treatment. Almost everything is theoretically not immutable. (Just as only very few things are truly 'free' in a very strict sense.)
(2/3)

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

Thanks. This is not a point that anyone has raised before. But without repeating previous points (that I still stand by), I'd like to be a bit constructive and say this: The relationship between first and second nature and the extend to which we can even define anything as first nature is an (1/3)

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

I'm aware. But in the West Limfjord they did not have the technology, manpower, finances or any relevant combination thereof to dig and maintain a channel against the forces of the northsea. For all practical purposes, it was a given; it was immutable.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

I can safely say that digging through that isthmus was not an option they had in 1825. Any careful reading of the sources will make that clear.
(They were not Dutch of course ;-) )

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

I don't think it is. In 19th century Denmark, the Agger Isthmus was pretty immutable. And so is much of first nature Geography still.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

And infrastructure is no simple feat. There are still infrastructure projects that are infeasible and trade-offs between one project or another. Geography is - and will be - an important source of limitations and opportunities.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 20

Thanks! You are right! I guess that is somehow an important related point: Altering what was once perceived immutable limitations is typically what we call 'infrastructure'.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 19

The working paper has also recently been updated with a sharper focus on the contribution of the paper. Do check it out on arXiv if you are interested (3/3) arxiv.org/abs/2408.00885

A Perfect Storm: First-Nature Geography and Economic Development

In 1825 a storm cut a new channel through Denmark's Limfjord, providing an exogenous shock to first-nature geography. Difference-in-differences estimates show the channel increased trade immediately a...

arxiv.org

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 19

Not only did I get to share numerous holiday pictures (which where somehow scientifically relevant) I also enjoyed insightful comments and questions (2/3)

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Jun 19

A true pleasure visiting the @camunicampop.bsky.social group to discuss my research on the effect of first nature Geography on Economic Development. (1/3)

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

Thanks for reading. The paper can be found here in open access: doi.org/10.1080/0007...

Ireland in a Danish mirror: A microlevel comparison of the productivity of Danish and Irish creameries before the First World War

The relative success of the Danish and failure of the Irish dairy industries before the First World War is often contrasted. The traditional narrative assumes that the Irish failed because they wer...

doi.org

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

12/ This is just one example. But it goes to show how important stability can be in ensuring sustained prosperity. Even if, you are better on average, it is no guarantee that you will succeed. I think that is a lesson worth remembering in today's world order.

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

11/ So why did Denmark still capture the UK market? We’re still exploring that, but one explanation could be that Irish dairies had greater variation in efficiency, while Danish ones were more stable.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

10/ In Denmark, it took an average of 26.07 kg of milk to make 1 kg of butter, while in Ireland, it only took 25.26 kg. Irish co-operatives were more efficient in converting milk into butter.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

9/ Did Irish co-operatives fail because they were less efficient? The answer is “no.” Based on reports from 1898-1903 (541 dairies in Denmark and 171 in Ireland), we see that Danish dairies were actually less efficient.

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Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

8/ But we don’t just rely on interpretation – we have the microlevel data. We have digitized reports from the creameries themselves, allowing us to test these claims with modern statistical methods.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

7/ Meanwhile, in Ireland, the milk soured – metaphorically speaking. Attempting to copy Denmark’s co-operative dairies didn’t work. The conclusion, both then and now, is that Danish technology and efficiency were simply superior.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

6/ Steam-powered centrifuges fueled by coal from England provided a huge boost. By 1910, England imported half of its butter from Denmark, taking over a market that had previously been Irish.

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · Apr 28

5/ Otherwise relatively poor farmers also benefitted, and rural productivity skyrocketed. The creameries were owned and operated by the very same small farmers with a few cows each. They skimmed the milk quite literally and in turn was part of making Denmark wealthy.

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