IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/28597.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Industrialization and Urbanization in Nineteenth Century America

Author

Listed:
  • Jeremy Atack
  • Robert A. Margo
  • Paul Rhode

Abstract

During the nineteenth century the United States urbanized – the share of the population living in urban areas increased – and industrialized – the share of the labor force in manufacturing increased. Our survey of the literature and analyses of census data suggests that a key reason was the development of a nationwide transportation system, especially the railroad. Coupled with changes in manufacturing technology and organizational form, the “transportation revolution” increased demand for manufacturing labor in urban locations. Labor supply responded and because of agglomeration economies, population density and the size and number of urban places increased. Although our focus is on the US experience, a causal role for transportation is likely for other economies that experienced historical industrialization and urbanization.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo & Paul Rhode, 2021. "Industrialization and Urbanization in Nineteenth Century America," NBER Working Papers 28597, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28597
    Note: DAE
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w28597.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Junichi Yamasaki, 2017. "Railroads, Technology Adoption, and Modern Economic Development: Evidence from Japan," ISER Discussion Paper 1000, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    2. Tang, John P., 2014. "Railroad Expansion and Industrialization: Evidence from Meiji Japan," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 863-886, September.
    3. Erik Hornung, 2015. "Railroads And Growth In Prussia," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 699-736, August.
    4. Crafts, Nicholas, 2004. "Productivity Growth in the Industrial Revolution: A New Growth Accounting Perspective," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(2), pages 521-535, June.
    5. Dave Donaldson & Richard Hornbeck, 2016. "Railroads and American Economic Growth: A "Market Access" Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 799-858.
    6. Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo, 2019. "Gallman revisited: blacksmithing and American manufacturing, 1850–1870," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, January.
    7. Nicholas Crafts, 2004. "Steam as a general purpose technology: A growth accounting perspective," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(495), pages 338-351, April.
    8. Atack, Jeremy & Bateman, Fred & Margo, Robert A., 2008. "Steam power, establishment size, and labor productivity growth in nineteenth century American manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 185-198, April.
    9. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2012. "Urban Growth and Transportation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(4), pages 1407-1440.
    10. Sokoloff, Kenneth L., 1988. "Inventive Activity in Early Industrial America: Evidence From Patent Records, 1790–1846," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 813-850, December.
    11. Richard Hornbeck & Martin Rotemberg, 2019. "Railroads, Reallocation, and the Rise of American Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 26594, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Berger, Thor, 2019. "Railroads and Rural Industrialization: evidence from a Historical Policy Experiment," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    14. Sukkoo Kim, 2006. "Division of Labor and the Rise of Cities: Evidence from U.S. Industrialization, 1850-1880," NBER Working Papers 12246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Atack, Jeremy & Bateman, Fred & Weiss, Thomas, 1980. "The Regional Diffusion and Adoption of the Steam Engine in American Manufacturing," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(2), pages 281-308, June.
    16. Kim, Sukkoo, 2005. "Industrialization and urbanization: Did the steam engine contribute to the growth of cities in the United States?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 586-598, October.
    17. Atack, Jeremy & Bateman, Fred & Margo, Robert A., 2004. "Skill Intensity and Rising Wage Dispersion in Nineteenth-Century American Manufacturing," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(1), pages 172-192, March.
    18. Kenneth L. Sokoloff, 1984. "Was the Transition from the Artisanal Shop to the Factory Associated with Gains in Efficiency?: Evidence from the U.S. Manufacturing Censuses of 1820 and 1850," UCLA Economics Working Papers 300, UCLA Department of Economics.
    19. Hanlon, W. Walker & Miscio, Antonio, 2017. "Agglomeration: A long-run panel data approach," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-14.
    20. Sukkoo Kim, 2006. "Division of labor and the rise of cities: evidence from US industrialization, 1850--1880," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(4), pages 469-491, August.
    21. Sokoloff, Kenneth L., 1984. "Investment in Fixed and Working Capital During Early Industrialization: Evidence from U. S. Manufacturing Firms," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 545-556, June.
    22. Chandler, Alfred D., 1972. "Anthracite Coal and the Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the United States," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 141-181, July.
    23. Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo & Paul Rhode, 2020. "‘Mechanization Takes Command’: Inanimate Power and Labor Productivity in Late Nineteenth Century American Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 27436, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Abrams, Burton A. & Li, Jing & Mulligan, James G., 2008. "Did Corliss Steam Engines Fuel Urban Growth in the Late Nineteenth Century? Less Sanguine Results," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(4), pages 1172-1176, December.
    25. Atack, Jeremy, 1977. "Returns to scale in antebellum United States manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 337-359, November.
    26. Ferrie, Joseph P. & Troesken, Werner, 2008. "Water and Chicago's mortality transition, 1850-1925," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 1-16, January.
    27. Sokoloff, Kenneth L., 1984. "Was the transition from the artisanal shop to the nonmechanized factory associated with gains in efficiency?: Evidence from the U.S. Manufacturing censuses of 1820 and 1850," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 351-382, October.
    28. Atack, Jeremy, 2013. "On the Use of Geographic Information Systems in Economic History: The American Transportation Revolution Revisited," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(2), pages 313-338, June.
    29. B. Zorina Khan, 2014. "Of Time and Space: Technological Spillovers among Patents and Unpatented Innovations during Early U.S. Industrialization," NBER Working Papers 20732, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Nathan Rosenberg & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2009. "A General-Purpose Technology at Work: The Corliss Steam Engine in the Late-Nineteenth-Century United States," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Studies On Science And The Innovation Process Selected Works of Nathan Rosenberg, chapter 6, pages 97-135, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    31. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-1278, December.
    32. Hoyt Bleakley & Jeffrey Lin, 2012. "Portage and Path Dependence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(2), pages 587-644.
    33. Sandra Sequeira & Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2020. "Immigrants and the Making of America," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 382-419.
    34. B. Zorina Khan, 2005. "The Democratization of Invention: Patents and Copyrights in American Economic Development, 1790–1920," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number khan05-1.
    35. Sukkoo Kim, 2007. "Immigration, Industrial Revolution and Urban Growth in the United States, 1820-1920: Factor Endowments, Technology and Geography," NBER Working Papers 12900, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Rothenberg, Winifred B., 1981. "The Market and Massachusetts Farmers, 1750–1855," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 283-314, June.
    37. Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo & Paul W. Rhode, 2019. ""Automation" of Manufacturing in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Hand and Machine Labor Study," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 51-70, Spring.
    38. Broadberry, Stephen N. & Irwin, Douglas A., 2006. "Labor productivity in the United States and the United Kingdom during the nineteenth century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 257-279, April.
    39. Sukkoo Kim, 2005. "Industrialization and Urbanization: Did the Steam Engine Contribute to the Growth of Cities in the United States?," NBER Working Papers 11206, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    40. Berger, Thor & Enflo, Kerstin, 2017. "Locomotives of local growth: The short- and long-term impact of railroads in Sweden," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 124-138.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carlo Ciccarelli & Torben Dall Schmidt, 2022. "The impact of history on regional development," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 42(3), pages 219-225, December.
    2. Nihal Ahmed & Zeeshan Hamid & Khalil Ur Rehman & Piotr Senkus & Nisar Ahmed Khan & Aneta Wysokińska-Senkus & Barbara Hadryjańska, 2023. "Environmental Regulation, Fiscal Decentralization, and Agricultural Carbon Intensity: A Challenge to Ecological Sustainability Policies in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Zhang, Xiaoli & Ahmad, Maaz & Gu, Xiao, 2024. "The Dual Faces of growth: Linear and non-linear effects of industrialization, financial development and natural resource rents on China's economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    4. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    5. Dalmazzo, Alberto & de Blasio, Guido & Poy, Samuele, 2022. "Can Public Housing Trigger Industrialization?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    6. Lianchun Zhao & Chengzhang Zhao & Jiajing Huang, 2022. "Spatial Dynamics and Determinants of Population Urbanization in the Upper Reaches of the Yellow River," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-12, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Atack, Jeremy & Bateman, Fred & Margo, Robert A., 2008. "Steam power, establishment size, and labor productivity growth in nineteenth century American manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 185-198, April.
    3. Alex W. Chernoff, 2021. "Firm heterogeneity, technology adoption and the spatial distribution of population: Theory and measurement," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 475-521, May.
    4. Sukkoo Kim, 2007. "Immigration, Industrial Revolution and Urban Growth in the United States, 1820-1920: Factor Endowments, Technology and Geography," NBER Working Papers 12900, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Shih-tse Lo & Dhanoos Sutthiphisal, 2008. "Crossover Inventions And Knowledge Diffusion Of General Purpose Technologies? Evidence From The Electrical Technology," NBER Working Papers 14043, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Chan, Jeff, 2022. "Farming output, concentration, and market access: Evidence from the 19th-century American railroad expansion," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    7. Leah Platt Boustan & Devin Michelle Bunten & Owen Hearey, 2013. "Urbanization in the United States, 1800-2000," NBER Working Papers 19041, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Kemeny, Tom & Petralia, Sergio & Storper, Michael, 2022. "Disruptive innovation and spatial inequality," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115953, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Burton A. Abrams & Jing Li & James G. Mulligan, 2012. "Capital Intensity and U.S. Country Population Growth during the Late Nineteenth Century," Working Papers 12-02, University of Delaware, Department of Economics.
    10. Sukkoo Kim, 2006. "Division of Labor and the Rise of Cities: Evidence from U.S. Industrialization, 1850-1880," NBER Working Papers 12246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo & Paul Rhode, 2020. "‘Mechanization Takes Command’: Inanimate Power and Labor Productivity in Late Nineteenth Century American Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 27436, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Stephan Maurer & Ferdinand Rauch, 2023. "Economic geography aspects of the Panama Canal," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(1), pages 142-162.
    13. Fenske, James & Kala, Namrata & Wei, Jinlin, 2023. "Railways and cities in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. James Bessen, 2009. "More Machines, Better Machines...Or Better Workers?," Working Papers 0803, Research on Innovation.
    15. Braun, Sebastian Till & Franke, Richard, 2022. "Railways, Growth, and Industrialization in a Developing German Economy, 1829–1910," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(4), pages 1183-1221, December.
    16. Lindgren, Erik & Pettersson-Lidbom, Per & Tyrefors, Björn, 2021. "The Causal Effect of Transport Infrastructure: Evidence from a New Historical Database," Working Paper Series 1407, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    17. Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López & Alfonso Herranz-Loncán & Filippo Tassinari & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2021. "Paving the way to modern growth. Evidence from Bourbon roads in Spain," Working Papers 0209, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    18. Sergio Petralia, 2020. "GPTs and Growth: Evidence on the Technological Adoption of Electrical & Electronic Technologies in the 1920s," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2033, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2020.
    19. David Andersson & Thor Berger & Erik Prawitz, 2023. "Making a Market: Infrastructure, Integration, and the Rise of Innovation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 258-274, March.
    20. Garcia-López, Miquel-Àngel & Herranz-Loncán, Alfonso & Tassinari, Filippo & Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet, 2023. "Paving the way to modern growth: The Spanish Bourbon roads," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N61 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N91 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28597. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.