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The U.S. Westward Expansion

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Author Info
Guillaume Vandenbroucke () (University of Southern California)

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Abstract

Some facts characterizing the U.S. economic development in the 19th century are: (i) the westward movement of population; (ii) the accumulation of productive land; and (iii) the wage gap in favor of the West. An overlapping-generations model is developed, to account for these facts. The model's novelty is the presence of a fixed amount of land, initially unsuitable for production, but that can be improved. Historical evidence on productivity in land-improvement activities is used to calibrate the model's parameters. The model accounts for the regional distribution of population and the path of the stock of developed land. The main factor driving the Westward Expansion is population growth. International immigration is found to contribute little to the opening of the West.

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File URL: http://www.econ.rochester.edu/Faculty/GreenwoodPapers/West.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Economie d'Avant Garde in its series Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports with number 4.

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Length: 28 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2003
Date of revision: Apr 2004
Handle: RePEc:eag:rereps:4

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Web page: http://www.jeremygreenwood.net/EAG.htm

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Related research
Keywords: westward expansion; land-improvement; migration;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Edward C. Prescott, 1986. "Theory ahead of business cycle measurement," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Fall, pages 9-22. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Robert E. Gallman, 1986. "The United States Capital Stock in the Nineteenth Century," NBER Chapters, in: Long-Term Factors in American Economic Growth, pages 165-214 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jeremy Greenwood & Ananth Seshadri & Guillaume Vandenbroucke, 2002. "The baby boom and baby bust: some macroeconomics for population economics," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Hercowitz, Zvi & Pines, David, 1997. "Migration between home country and diaspora: An economic analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 45-59, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Kevin H. O'Rourke & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2001. "Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262650592.
  6. Robert E. Gallman, 1992. "American Economic Growth before the Civil War: The Testimony of the Capital Stock Estimates," NBER Chapters, in: American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War, pages 79-120 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  7. David Andolfatto & Glenn MacDonald, 1998. "Technology Diffusion and Aggregate Dynamics," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(2), pages 338-370, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Oberly, James W., 1986. "Westward Who? Estimates of Native White Interstate Migration After the War of 1812," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(02), pages 431-440, June. [Downloadable!]
  9. Eckstein, Zvi & Stern, Steven & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1988. "Fertility Choice, Land, and the Malthusian Hypothesis," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 29(2), pages 353-61, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Steckel, Richard H., 1983. "The economic foundations of East-West migration during the 19th century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 14-36, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Caucutt, Elizabeth & Cooley, Thomas F & Guner, Nezih, 2007. "The Farm, the City and the Emergence of Social Security," CEPR Discussion Papers 6131, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Guillaume Vandenbroucke, 2004. "The American Frontier : A Hundred Years of Western Settlement," Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports 7, Economie d'Avant Garde. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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