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Did Railroads Make Antebellum U.S. Banks More Sound?

In: Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and Credit Markets in Historical Perspective

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  • Jeremy Atack
  • Matthew S. Jaremski
  • Peter L. Rousseau

Abstract

We investigate the relationships of bank failures and balance sheet conditions with measures of proximity to different forms of transportation in the United States over the period from 1830-1860. A series of hazard models and bank-level regressions indicate a systematic relationship between proximity to railroads (but not to other means of transportation) and "good" banking outcomes. Although railroads improved economic conditions along their routes, we offer evidence of another channel. Specifically, railroads facilitated better information flows about banks that led to modifications in bank asset composition consistent with reductions in the incidence of moral hazard.
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Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Atack & Matthew S. Jaremski & Peter L. Rousseau, 2014. "Did Railroads Make Antebellum U.S. Banks More Sound?," NBER Chapters, in: Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and Credit Markets in Historical Perspective, pages 149-178, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:13136
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Atack, Jeremy & Jaremski, Matthew & Rousseau, Peter L., 2014. "American Banking and the Transportation Revolution before the Civil War," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 943-986, December.
    2. Peter L. Rousseau & Paul Wachtel, 2011. "What Is Happening To The Impact Of Financial Deepening On Economic Growth?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(1), pages 276-288, January.
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    4. Jeremy Atack & Michael R. Haines & Robert A. Margo, 2008. "Railroads and the Rise of the Factory: Evidence for the United States, 1850-70," NBER Working Papers 14410, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman & Michael Haines & Robert A. Margo, 2009. "Did Railroads Induce or Follow Economic Growth? Urbanization and Population Growth in the American Midwest, 1850-60," NBER Working Papers 14640, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. 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.
    7. Economopoulos, Andrew J, 1988. "Illinois Free Banking Experience," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 20(2), pages 249-264, May.
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    9. Rousseau, Peter L & Wachtel, Paul, 1998. "Financial Intermediation and Economic Performance: Historical Evidence from Five Industrialized Countries," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(4), pages 657-678, November.
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    11. Matthew Jaremski, 2013. "State Banks and the National Banking Acts: Measuring the Response to Increased Financial Regulation, 1860-1870," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(2-3), pages 379-399, March.
    12. Rockoff, Hugh, 1974. "The Free Banking Era: A Reexamination," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 6(2), pages 141-167, May.
    13. Matthew Jaremski, 2010. "Free Bank Failures: Risky Bonds versus Undiversified Portfolios," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(8), pages 1565-1587, December.
    14. Howard Bodenhorn, 1998. "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 7-24, Winter.
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Technology and Financial Inclusion in North America
      by bbatiz in NEP-HIS blog on 2014-07-29 18:53:34

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    Cited by:

    1. Howard Bodenhorn, 2016. "Two Centuries of Finance and Growth in the United States, 1790-1980," Working Papers id:11352, eSocialSciences.
    2. Howard Bodenhorn, 2017. "Finance and Growth: Household Savings, Public Investment, and Public Health in Late Nineteenth-Century New Jersey," NBER Working Papers 23430, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Stephan Heblich & Alex Trew, 2019. "Banking and Industrialization," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(6), pages 1753-1796.
    4. Stephan Heblich & Alex Trew, 2019. "Banking and Industrialization," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(6), pages 1753-1796.
    5. McGraw, Marquise J., 2020. "The role of airports in city employment growth, 1950–2010," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N21 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N71 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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