Marco Polo's Influence on Christian Missionaries and Economic Development in China

This dataset examines the impact of Marco Polo's travels on the diffusion of Christian missionaries and economic development at the prefecture level in historical China. It includes variables such as prefectures mentioned by Marco Polo and years since missionaries' first arrival. The study also incorporates comparative data from European and Indian contexts.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between prefectures mentioned by Marco Polo and subsequent economic development indicators.
• Model the diffusion of Christian missionaries using years since first arrival as a key temporal variable.
• Compare the patterns of missionary activity and development between Chinese, European, and Indian contexts mentioned in the study.

Strengths

• Data is constructed from primary historical sources, including 'The Travels of Marco Polo' and individual missionary biographies.
• Analysis is conducted at the prefecture level, providing a granular geographical unit for historical China.
• Includes comparative data from European and Indian contexts to demonstrate impact beyond China.

Limitations

• The dataset's specific row count, column count, and file formats are unknown.
• Temporal coverage spans over 500 years (1275-1842), which may present challenges in data consistency and measurement.
• Relies on historical records which may have gaps or biases in documentation.

Provenance

Source

ICPSR Harvested Dataverse

Collection Method

Prefectures mentioned by Marco Polo were identified from 'The Travels of Marco Polo'. Years since missionaries' first arrival were calculated from individual missionary biographies.

Time Range

1275-1842

Freshness

Last updated metadata indicates 2026-02-23.

Geography

Historical China prefectures, with comparative data from Europe and India.