The rise of the US Portland cement industry and the role of public science

American Portland cement rose spectacularly during the 1890s from being a niche product to dominating a much larger market. The contributions of innovations, factor endowments and public science—factors highlighted as contributing to the more general American industrialization occurring at the same time—are analyzed. The successful commercialization of the rotary kiln, enabled by abundant supplies of fuels and minerals, played a key role, as did greater demand. Geological surveys, as highlighted by David and Wright, assisted in some states, but an econometric entry model does not demonstrate that they made a systematic significant contribution to the rise.