 Industrialization and urbanization in nineteenth century AmericaJeremy Atack, Robert Margo and Paul Rhode Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2022, vol. 94, issue C Abstract: During the nineteenth century manufacturing increased its share of the labor force in the United States, and manufacturing became more urban, as did the population. Our survey of the literature and analyses of census data suggests that a key reason was the development of a nationwide transportation system, especially the railroad. Coupled with changes in manufacturing technology and organizational form, the “transportation revolution” increased demand for manufacturing labor in urban locations. Labor supply responded and because of agglomeration economies, population density and the size and number of urban places increased. Although our focus is on the US experience, a causal role for transportation is likely for other economies that experienced historical industrialization and urbanization. Keywords: Industrialization; Urbanization; Division of labor; Inanimate power; Immigration; Transportation revolution (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:regeco:v:94:y:2022:i:c:s0166046221000387 DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103678 Access Statistics for this article Regional Science and Urban Economics is currently edited by D.P McMillen and Y. Zenou More articles in Regional Science and Urban Economics from Elsevier |
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