@techreport{NBERw14410,
 title = "Railroads and the Rise of the Factory: Evidence for the United States, 1850-70",
 author = "Jeremy Atack and Michael R. Haines and Robert A. Margo",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "14410",
 year = "2008",
 month = "October",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w14410",
 abstract = {Over the course of the nineteenth century manufacturing in the United States shifted from artisan shop to factory production.  At the same time United States experienced a "transportation revolution", a key component of which was the building of extensive railroad network.  Using a newly created data set of manufacturing establishments linked to county level data on rail access from 1850-70, we ask whether the coming of the railroad increased establishment size in manufacturing.   Difference-in-difference and instrument variable estimates suggest that the railroad had a positive effect on factory status.  In other words, Adam Smith was right -- the division of labor in nineteenth century American manufacturing was limited by the extent of the market.},
}