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Did New Deal and World War II Public Capital Investments Facilitate a "Big Push" in the American South?

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  • Fred Bateman
  • Jaime Ros
  • Jason E. Taylor

Abstract

The "big push" theory claims that publicly coordinated investment can break the cycle of poverty by helping developing economies overcome deficiencies in private incentives that prevent firms from adopting modern production techniques and achieving scale economies. Despite a flurry of research, however, scholars have offered scarce few real-world episodes that seem to fit the theoretical model. We argue that the postwar performance of the American South, which followed large public capital investments during the Great Depression and World War II, is such an application. Both econometric analysis and a contemporary survey of firms strongly support the notion that big-push dynamics were at work.

Suggested Citation

  • Fred Bateman & Jaime Ros & Jason E. Taylor, 2009. "Did New Deal and World War II Public Capital Investments Facilitate a "Big Push" in the American South?," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 165(2), pages 307-341, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:mhr:jinste:urn:sici:0932-4569(200906)165:2_307:dndaww_2.0.tx_2-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jaworski, Taylor, 2017. "World War II and the Industrialization of the American South," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(4), pages 1048-1082, December.
    2. Enrico Moretti, 2014. "Local Economic Development, Agglomeration Economies, and the Big Push: 100 Years of Evidence from the Tennessee Valley Authority," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 129(1), pages 275-331.

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    JEL classification:

    • N92 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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