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Did Turnpike Trusts Increase Transportation Investment in Eighteenth-Century England?

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  • BOGART, DAN

Abstract

Turnpike trusts were private organizations that financed road improvements by levying tolls and issuing mortgage debt. They were established by Acts of Parliament throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. The acts transferred authority from parishes to a body of trustees, composed of local landowners and merchants. Parishes financed road improvements with local property taxes; but they could not levy tolls. This article uses a new data set to show that turnpike trusts increased road expenditure, rather than replacing existing or forthcoming parish expenditure. It also illustrates how institutional changes contributed to the process of economic development in England.

Suggested Citation

  • Bogart, Dan, 2005. "Did Turnpike Trusts Increase Transportation Investment in Eighteenth-Century England?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 439-468, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:65:y:2005:i:02:p:439-468_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mark Koyama, 2012. "Prosecution Associations in Industrial Revolution England: Private Providers of Public Goods?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 95-130.
    2. Dan Bogart & Gary Richardson, 2011. "Property Rights and Parliament in Industrializing Britain," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 241-274.
    3. Dan Bogart, 2009. "Turnpike trusts and property income: new evidence on the effects of transport improvements and legislation in eighteenth‐century England1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(1), pages 128-152, February.
    4. Theresa Finley & Raphaël Franck & Noel D. Johnson, 2021. "The Effects of Land Redistribution: Evidence from the French Revolution," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 233-267.
    5. Cannon, Edmund & Brunt, Liam, 2013. "Integration in the English wheat market 1770-1820," CEPR Discussion Papers 9504, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Mats Olsson & Fredrik Bergenfeldt & Patrick Svensson, 2011. "Wagons at work: a transport revolution in the age of agrarian transition in Sweden?," Working Papers 11018, Economic History Society.
    7. Dan Bogart, 2008. "Competition and Commitment: the Supply and Enforcement of Rights to Improve Roads and Rivers in England, 1600-1750," Working Papers 070817, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    8. Dan Bogart, 2011. "Did the Glorious Revolution contribute to the transport revolution? Evidence from investment in roads and rivers," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(4), pages 1073-1112, November.
    9. Bogart, Dan & Lefors, Michael & Satchell, A.E.M., 2019. "Canal carriers and creative destruction in English transport," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-24.
    10. Gregory Clark, 2010. "The macroeconomic aggregates for England, 1209–2008," Research in Economic History, in: Research in Economic History, pages 51-140, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    11. Stephen Broadberry & Alexandra M. de Pleijt, 2021. "Capital and Economic Growth in Britain, 1270-1870: Preliminary Findings," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _186, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    12. Joel Mokyr & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2012. "Understanding Growth in Europe, 1700–1870: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Sociology, National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 13(5), pages 57-102.
    13. Bogart, Dan, 2007. "Neighbors, networks, and the development of transport systems: Explaining the diffusion of turnpike trusts in eighteenth-century England," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 238-262, March.
    14. Dan Bogart, 2013. "The Transportation Revolution in Industrializing Britain: A Survey," Working Papers 121306, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    15. Keller, Wolfgang & Shiue, Carol & Wang, Xin, 2015. "Capital Markets in China and Britain, 18th and 19th Century: Evidence from Grain Prices," CEPR Discussion Papers 10702, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Dan Bogart & Gary Richardson, 2006. "Law and economic development in England: new evidence from acts of Parliament, 1510-1850," Working Papers 6018, Economic History Society.
    17. Bryon Carson, 2021. "Alain Bertaud, Order Without Design: How markets shape cities. Cambridge, MA: MIT press, 2018. Xiv + 419 pages. USD 40.00 (cloth)," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 34(4), pages 517-522, December.
    18. Dan Bogart, 2012. "Profiting from Public Works: Financial Returns to Infrastructure and Investment Strategies during Britain's Industrial Revolution," Working Papers 121304, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    19. Leslie Hannah, 2013. "The Corporate Economies of America and Europe 1790-1860," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-877, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    20. Dincecco, Mark & Katz, Gabriel, 2012. "State Capacity and Long-Run Performance," MPRA Paper 38299, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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