In this paper we investigate the relationship between accidental shipping losses on the Great Lakes between 1900 and 1939 and the role the Lake Carriers Association played in preventing or limiting such losses. Moreover, we address the relative benefits of private effort, through the Lake...

We empirically investigate the relationship between agricultural development and proximity to military forts in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado in 1880. Agricultural investments are substantially higher in counties where a military fort is present, suggesting that military forts stimulated...