We use establishment level data from the 1850-80 censuses of manufacturing to study the correlates of the use of steam power and the impact of steam power on labor productivity growth in nineteenth century American manufacturing. A key result is that establishment size mattered: large...

For generations of scholars and observers, the "transportation revolution," especially the railroad, has loomed large as a dominant factor in the settlement and development of the United States in the nineteenth century. There has, however, been considerable debate as to whether transportation...

During the nineteenth century the United States urbanized - the share of the population living in urban areas increased - and industrialized - the share of the labor force in manufacturing increased. Our survey of the literature and analyses of census data suggests that a key reason was the...

For generations of scholars and observers, the quot;transportation revolution,quot; especially the railroad, has loomed large as a dominant factor in the settlement and development of the United States in the nineteenth century. There has, however, been considerable debate as to whether...