Digging the Dirt at Public Expense: Digging the Dirt at Public Expense Erie Canal and Other Public Works

Stanley L. Engerman and Kenneth L. Sokoloff, Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America's Economic History (University of Chicago Press, 2006), chap. 3, https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/corruption-and-reform-lessons-americas-economic-history/digging-dirt-public-expense-digging-dirt-public-expense-erie-canal-and-other-public-works.