TY  - JOUR
AU  - Atack,Jeremy
AU  - Haines,Michael R.
AU  - Margo,Robert A.
TI  - Railroads and the Rise of the Factory: Evidence for the United States, 1850-70
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14410
PY  - 2008
Y2  - October 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14410
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14410.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Jeremy Atack
Department of Economics
Vanderbilt University
VU Station B #351819
2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, TN 37235-1819
Tel: 615-343-2467
Fax: 615/343-8495
E-Mail: jeremy.atack@vanderbilt.edu

Michael R. Haines
Department of Economics, 217 Persson Hall
Colgate University
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton, NY 13346
Tel: 315/228-7536
Fax: 315/228-7033
E-Mail: MHAINES@MAIL.COLGATE.EDU

Robert A. Margo
Department of Economics
Boston University
270 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
Tel: 617/353-6819
Fax: 617/343-8495
E-Mail: margora@bu.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -