Comparing the correlation length of grain markets in China and France

In economics comparative analysis plays the same role as experimental research in physics. In this paper we closely examine several methodological problems related to comparative analysis by investigating the specific example of grain markets in China and France respectively. This enables us to answer a question in economic history which has so far remained pending, namely whether or not market integration progressed in the 18th century. In economics as in physics, before being accepted any new result has to be checked and re-checked by different researchers. This is what we call the replication and comparison procedures. We show how these procedures should (and can) be implemented.