Railroads, Economic Development, and the Demographic Transition in the United States

Katz‬‏, ‪Ori (2018): Railroads, Economic Development, and the Demographic Transition in the United States.

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of railroads in the United States between 1850 and 1910 on economic development, fertility, and human capital. A novel identification strategy, which relies on a dynamic instrument, allows me to control for unobservables using county fixed effects. I find that railroads shifted the distribution of occupations and industries, had a large positive effect on human capital levels, and a large negative effect on fertility rates. Further analysis suggests that the impact of railroads was larger in counties that were initially more developed. I examine possible mechanisms that drive the effects and lead to this heterogeneity.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Railroads, Fertility, Human Capital, Industrialization, Development, Transportation, Economic Growth, Great Divergence, Demographic Transition
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J11 - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N11 - U.S. ; Canada: Pre-1913; N - Economic History > N7 - Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services > N71 - U.S. ; Canada: Pre-1913; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O14 - Industrialization ; Manufacturing and Service Industries ; Choice of Technology; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis ; Housing ; Infrastructure

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