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The U.S. Westward Expansion

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Author Info
Guillaume Vandenbroucke () (Department of Economics, University of Southern California)

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Abstract

The U.S. economic development in the nineteenth century was characterized by the westward movement of population and the accumulation of productive land in the West. This paper presents a model of migration and land improvement to identify the quantitatively important forces driving this phenomena. Two forces are key: the decrease in transportation costs induced the westward migration, while population growth was responsible for the investment in productive land.

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File URL: http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/economics/IEPR/Working%20Papers/IEPR_06.59_%5BVandenbroucke%5D.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version, 2006
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute of Economic Policy Research (IEPR) in its series IEPR Working Papers with number 06.59.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:scp:wpaper:06-59

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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. 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:
  3. 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!]
  4. 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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  5. 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)
  6. 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!]
  7. 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!]
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  8. 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.
  9. 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!]
  10. 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)
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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. Elizabeth M. Caucutt & Thomas F. Cooley & Nezih Guner, 2007. "The Farm, the City, and the Emergence of Social Security," NBER Working Papers 12854, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [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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