IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juecon/v104y2018icp59-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of transport infrastructure on the location of economic activity: Railroads and post offices in the American West

Author

Listed:
  • Hodgson, Charles

Abstract

This paper uses data on the locations of historical US Post Offices to study the effect of railroad construction between 1868 and 1889 on the geographical distribution of towns in the American West. I estimate the probability of survival and expected lifetime of a post office as flexible functions of the distance to the railroad. Existing post offices that were bypassed by the railroad at between 5 and 10 km were 20 to 50 percentage points less likely to remain in operation until 2010 than control post offices over 50 km from the railroad. Given the historically close correspondence between the location of post offices and the location of towns, these results provide evidence that the railroads generated an agglomeration shadow - towns that were “almost” connected to the railroad were more likely to decline than those that remained isolated. I show that the short distances over which the forces of agglomeration act in this setting mean that it is difficult to detect the agglomerative effects of railroad construction using alternative methodologies based on census population data.

Suggested Citation

  • Hodgson, Charles, 2018. "The effect of transport infrastructure on the location of economic activity: Railroads and post offices in the American West," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 59-76.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:104:y:2018:i:c:p:59-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2018.01.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119018300068
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jue.2018.01.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William R. Kerr & Scott Duke Kominers, 2015. "Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(4), pages 877-899, October.
    2. Redding, Stephen J. & Turner, Matthew A., 2015. "Transportation Costs and the Spatial Organization of Economic Activity," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1339-1398, Elsevier.
    3. Fujita, Masahisa & Krugman, Paul, 1995. "When is the economy monocentric?: von Thunen and Chamberlin unified," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 505-528, August.
    4. Richard Hornbeck, 2010. "Barbed Wire: Property Rights and Agricultural Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(2), pages 767-810.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Jacob Moscona & James A. Robinson, 2016. "State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the 19th Century," NBER Working Papers 21932, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Baldwin, Richard E., 2001. "Core-periphery model with forward-looking expectations," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 21-49, February.
    7. Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2003. "Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(2), pages 377-393, May.
    8. Remi Jedwab & Alexander Moradi, 2016. "The Permanent Effects of Transportation Revolutions in Poor Countries: Evidence from Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 268-284, May.
    9. Carter,Susan B. & Gartner,Scott Sigmund & Haines,Michael R. & Olmstead,Alan L. & Sutch,Richard & Wri (ed.), 2006. "The Historical Statistics of the United States 5 Volume Hardback Set," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521817912, November.
    10. Benjamin Faber, 2014. "Trade Integration, Market Size, and Industrialization: Evidence from China's National Trunk Highway System," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(3), pages 1046-1070.
    11. Atack, Jeremy & Margo, Robert, 2011. "The Impact of Access to Rail Transportation on Agricultural Improvement: The American Midwest as a Test Case, 1850-1860," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 4(2), pages 5-18.
    12. Chandra, Amitabh & Thompson, Eric, 2000. "Does public infrastructure affect economic activity?: Evidence from the rural interstate highway system," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 457-490, July.
    13. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    14. Mohammad Arzaghi & J. Vernon Henderson, 2008. "Networking off Madison Avenue," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(4), pages 1011-1038.
    15. MOSSAY, Pascal, 2013. "A theory of rational spatial agglomerations," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2499, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    16. Mossay, Pascal, 2013. "A theory of rational spatial agglomerations," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 385-394.
    17. Guy Michaels & Ferdinand Rauch & Stephen J. Redding, 2012. "Urbanization and Structural Transformation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(2), pages 535-586.
    18. David, Paul A & Wright, Gavin, 1997. "Increasing Returns and the Genesis of American Resource Abundance," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(2), pages 203-245, March.
    19. Daron Acemoglu & Jacob Moscona & James A. Robinson, 2016. "State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 61-67, May.
    20. 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.
    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. Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Lihua & Yang, Zhiqing, 2021. "High-speed rails and rural-urban migrants’ wages," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1030-1042.
    2. Bogart, Dan & You, Xuesheng & Alvarez-Palau, Eduard J. & Satchell, Max & Shaw-Taylor, Leigh, 2022. "Railways, divergence, and structural change in 19th century England and Wales," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Barsanetti, Bruno, 2021. "Cities on pre-Columbian paths," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Tang, Chenghui & Guan, Mingming & Dou, Jianmin, 2021. "Understanding the impact of High Speed Railway on urban innovation performance from the perspective of agglomeration externalities and network externalities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Yan, Linnan & Tu, Menger & Chagas, André L.S. & Tai, Lufeng, 2022. "The impact of high-speed railway on labor spatial misallocation—Based on spatial difference-in-differences analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 82-97.
    6. Liang Wang & Fangfang Zhang & Yuzhu Zang & Jian Duan, 2022. "Understanding the Regional Integration Process from the Perspective of Agglomeration and Urban Networks: Case Study in Central China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Yanyan Gao & Yongqing Nan & Shunfeng Song, 2022. "High‐speed rail and city tourism: Evidence from Tencent migration big data on two Chinese golden weeks," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1012-1036, September.
    8. Kakpo, Eliakim & Le Gallo, Julie & Grivault, Camille & Breuillé, Marie, 2019. "Does railway accessibility boost population growth? Evidence from unfinished historical roadways in France," MPRA Paper 96743, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Linnan Yan & Menger Tu & Andre Luis Squarize Chagas & Lufeng Tai, 2022. "The Impact of High-Speed Rail on Labor Spatial Misallocation– Based on Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2022_19, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    10. Jiangteng Zhou, 2023. "The impacts of highways on firm size distribution: Evidence from China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 482-506, June.
    11. Berkes, Enrico & Karger, Ezra & Nencka, Peter, 2023. "The census place project: A method for geolocating unstructured place names," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    12. Liu, Mengsha & Jiang, Yan & Wei, Xiaokun & Ruan, Qingsong & Lv, Dayong, 2023. "Effect of high-speed rail on entrepreneurial activities: Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    13. Yit Wey Liew & Muhammad Habibur Rahman & Audrey Kim Lan Siah, 2023. "Rail Stations To Development: Evidence From Colonial Malaya," Department of Economics Working Papers 2023_01, Durham University, Department of Economics.
    14. Zhidong Liu & Yang Cai & Xiaojing Hao, 2020. "The Agglomeration of Manufacturing Industry, Innovation and Haze Pollution in China: Theory and Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-28, March.
    15. Pogonyi, Csaba G. & Graham, Daniel J. & Carbo, Jose M., 2021. "Metros, agglomeration and displacement. Evidence from London," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Bo-Xun Huang & Shang-Chia Chiou & Wen-Ying Li, 2020. "Accessibility and Street Network Characteristics of Urban Public Facility Spaces: Equity Research on Parks in Fuzhou City Based on GIS and Space Syntax Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, April.
    17. Wang, Jiating & Cai, Siyuan, 2020. "The construction of high-speed railway and urban innovation capacity: Based on the perspective of knowledge Spillover," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    18. Kenneth Whaley, 2024. "Residential Segregation at Physical Neighborhood Boundaries," Working Papers 2024-02, University of South Florida, Department of Economics.
    19. Li, Bin & Liang, Yilan & Shahab, Yasir & Gull, Ammar Ali & Ashraf, Naeem, 2022. "Parent-subsidiary dispersion, cost of debt and debt default: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    20. Wang, Yanan & Liang, Shangkun & Kong, Dongmin & Wang, Qin, 2019. "High-speed rail, small city, and cost of debt: Firm-level evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).

    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. Redding, Stephen J. & Turner, Matthew A., 2015. "Transportation Costs and the Spatial Organization of Economic Activity," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1339-1398, Elsevier.
    2. Mikhailova, Tatiana (Михайлова, Татьяна), 2018. "Evacuation of Industry During the Great Patriotic War and the Growth of Russian Cities: Numerical Analysis [Эвакуация Промышленности В Годы Великой Отечественной Войны И Рост Городов России: Числен," Working Papers 031835, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    3. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    4. Okamoto, Chigusa & Sato, Yasuhiro, 2021. "Impacts of high-speed rail construction on land prices in urban agglomerations: Evidence from Kyushu in Japan," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Berger, Thor, 2019. "Railroads and Rural Industrialization: evidence from a Historical Policy Experiment," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum & Edouard Schaal, 2020. "Optimal Transport Networks in Spatial Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1411-1452, July.
    7. Yang, Xiaolan & Wang, Rui & Guo, Dongmei & Sun, Weizeng, 2020. "The reconfiguration effect of China's high-speed railway on intercity connection ——A study based on media attention index," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 47-56.
    8. Yoshifumi Konishi & Akari Ono, 2024. "Do Winners Win More from Transport Megaprojects? Evidence from the Great Seto Bridge in Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2024-018, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    9. Stephen J. Redding, 2020. "Trade and Geography," NBER Working Papers 27821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Fabien Candau & Elisa Dienesch, 2015. "Spatial distribution of skills and regional trade integration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 451-488, March.
    11. 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.
    12. Konstantin Büchel & Stephan Kyburz, 2018. "Fast track to growth? Railway access, population growth and local displacement in 19th century Switzerland," CEP Discussion Papers dp1538, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Stephen J. Redding, 2013. "Economic Geography: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Daniel Bernhofen & Rod Falvey & David Greenaway & Udo Kreickemeier (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of International Trade, chapter 16, pages 497-531, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Taylor Jaworski & Carl T. Kitchens, 2019. "National Policy for Regional Development: Historical Evidence from Appalachian Highways," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 777-790, December.
    15. He, Guojun & Xie, Yang & Zhang, Bing, 2020. "Expressways, GDP, and the environment: The case of China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    17. José M. Gaspar, 2018. "A prospective review on New Economic Geography," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(2), pages 237-272, September.
    18. Gibbons, Stephen & Lyytikäinen, Teemu & Overman, Henry G. & Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa, 2019. "New road infrastructure: The effects on firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 35-50.
    19. Kristian Behrens & Frédéric Robert‐Nicoud, 2009. "Krugman's Papers in Regional Science: The 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk is gone and the 2008 Nobel Prize well‐deserved," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 467-489, June.
    20. Brian Blankespoor & M Shahe Emran & Forhad Shilpi & Lu Xu, 2022. "Bridge to bigpush or backwash? Market integration, reallocation and productivity effects of Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh [Agricultural technology choice and transport]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 853-871.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transportation; Railroads; Economic geography; Agglomeration shadow;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N71 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

    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:eee:juecon:v:104:y:2018:i:c:p:59-76. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622905 .

    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.