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Did the Glorious Revolution Contribute to the Transport Revolution? Evidence from Investment in Roads and Rivers

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Author Info
Dan Bogart () (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine)

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Abstract

Transport infrastructure investment increased substantially in Britain between the seventeenth and eighteenth century. This paper argues that the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 contributed to transportation investment by reducing uncertainty about the security of improvement rights. It shows that road and river investment was low in the 1600s when several undertakers had their rights violated by major political changes or decrees from the King. It also shows that investment permanently increased after the Glorious Revolution when there was a lower likelihood that undertakers had their rights voided by acts. Together the evidence suggests that the political and institutional changes following Glorious Revolution made rights to improve infrastructure more secure and that promoters and investors responded to greater security by proposing and financing more projects.

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File URL: http://www.economics.uci.edu/docs/2008-09/bogart-18.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 080918.

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Length: 56 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:irv:wpaper:080918

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Postal: Irvine, CA 92697-3125
Phone: (949) 824-5788
Web page: http://www.econ.uci.edu/
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Related research
Keywords: Property rights; Investment under uncertainty; Glorious Revolution; Transport Revolution;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913
K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures

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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. North, Douglass C. & Weingast, Barry R., 1989. "Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(04), pages 803-832, December. [Downloadable!]
  2. Wells, John & Wills, Douglas, 2000. "Revolution, Restoration, and Debt Repudiation: The Jacobite Threat to England's Institutions and Economic Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(02), pages 418-441, June. [Downloadable!]
  3. Sussman, Nathan & Yafeh, Yishay, 2006. "Institutional Reforms, Financial Development and Sovereign Debt: Britain 1690 1790," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(04), pages 906-935, December. [Downloadable!]
  4. Clark, Gregory, 2002. "Land rental values and the agrarian economy: England and Wales, 1500 1914," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(03), pages 281-308, December. [Downloadable!]
  5. Pindyck, Robert S, 1991. "Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 1110-48, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Levy, Brian & Spiller, Pablo T, 1994. "The Institutional Foundations of Regulatory Commitment: A Comparative Analysis of Telecommunications Regulation," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 201-46, October.
  7. Dan Bogart, 2009. "Turnpike trusts and property income: new evidence on the effects of transport improvements and legislation in eighteenth-century England -super-1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(1), pages 128-152, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Bogart, Dan, 2005. "Did Turnpike Trusts Increase Transportation Investment in Eighteenth-Century England?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(02), pages 439-468, June. [Downloadable!]
  9. Leunig, Timothy, 2006. "Time is Money: A Re-Assessment of the Passenger Social Savings from Victorian British Railways," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(03), pages 635-673, September. [Downloadable!]
  10. repec:cup:jechis:v:61:y:2002:i:03:p:593-615_03 is not listed on IDEAS
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-22.

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