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Structural Change in American Manufacturing, 1850–1890

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  • James, John A.

Abstract

This article examines the role of capital-deepening technical change in promoting the growth of large firms and concentrated markets in the late nineteenth-century United States. Translog production functions allowing nonconstant returns to scale and biased technical change are estimated in pooled cross-section time series for 16 major industries over the period 1850–1890 based on Census data. It is shown that substantial increases in optimal firm size, dictating natural monopoly or tight oligopoly market structures, occurred in some but not all of the industries experiencing substantial increases in concentration over this period. In a number of markets high concentration levels did not appear to have been compelled by changes in technology.

Suggested Citation

  • James, John A., 1983. "Structural Change in American Manufacturing, 1850–1890," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 433-459, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:43:y:1983:i:02:p:433-459_02
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    Cited by:

    1. Kris Inwood & Ian Keay, 2005. "Bigger establishments in thicker markets: can we explain early productivity differentials between Canada and the United States?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1327-1363, November.
    2. Carlos D. Ramirez & Philip A. Shively, 2012. "The Effect of Bank Failures on Economic Activity: Evidence from U.S. States in the Early 20th Century," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44, pages 433-455, March.
    3. Nicholas Crafts & Anthony Venables, 2003. "Globalization in History.A Geographical Perspective," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization in Historical Perspective, pages 323-370, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Ian Keay, 2003. "An Empty Promise: Average Cost Savings and Scale Economies among Canadian and American Manufacturers, 1910‐1988," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(2), pages 374-388, October.
    5. Cantillo, Miguel, 2016. "Villains or Heroes? Private Banks and Railroads after the Sherman Act," MPRA Paper 79354, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Gillian Hamilton, 1999. "The Decline of Apprenticeship in North America: Evidence from Montreal," Working Papers hamiltng-99-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    7. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "Logistics, Market Size and Giant Plants in the Early 20th Century: A Global View," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-486, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    8. Jianqing, Ruan & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2010. "Do geese migrate domestically?: Evidence from the Chinese textile and apparel industry," IFPRI discussion papers 1040, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Bucheli, Marcelo & Mahoney, Joseph T. & Vaaler, Paul M., 2007. "Chandler's Living History: The Visible Hand of Vertical Integration in 19th Century America Viewed under a 21st Century Transaction Costs Economics Lens," Working Papers 07-0111, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    10. Azzam, Azzeddine M., 1998. "Competition in the US meatpacking industry: is it history?," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 107-126, March.
    11. Miguel Cantillo Simon, 2017. "Villains or Heroes? Private Banks and Railroads after the Sherman Act," Working Papers 201701, Universidad de Costa Rica, revised Jan 2017.
    12. Ruan, Jianqing & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2014. "“Flying geese” in China: The textile and apparel industry's pattern of migration," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 79-91.
    13. Yongseung Han & Arthur Snow & Ronald S. Warren, 2021. "Changes in the productive efficiency of U.S. flour mills in the late nineteenth century: an input-distance-function approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 115-132, December.

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