The Model T

Shari Eli, Joshua Hausman and Paul Rhode

No 31454, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We ask (1) why the United States adopted the car more quickly than other countries before 1929, and (2) why in the United States the car changed from a luxury to a mass market good between 1909 and 1919. We argue that the answer is in part the success of the Model T in the United States and its relative lack of success abroad. Mass production of the Model T began in 1913; by 1917, more than 40 percent of cars on the road were Model Ts. Cross-state and cross-county evidence suggest that the Model T opened up a new market for cars among farmers and in poorer areas of the country. Tariffs and difficulties producing outside Detroit made the U.S. success of the Model T difficult to replicate abroad, even in Canada.

JEL-codes: N12 N32 N62 N7 N72 N92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-tre
Note: DAE
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