Did War Mobilization Cause Aggregate and Regional Growth?

Taylor Jaworski and Dongkyu Yang

No 33705, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The participation of the United States in World War II led to a substantial mobilization of domestic resources to produce the materiel used on the battlefields of Europe and in the Pacific. We produce new estimates for the impact of war mobilization on long-run economic growth and regional development in the United States over the postwar period. Guided by an economic geography model, we interpret our estimates as the direct effect of mobilization on local productivity. The findings suggest the largest likely aggregate welfare impact was modest, although there is variation across region. In addition, industrial mobilization contributed to manufacturing growth relatively more in the Northeast and Midwest, and less in the South and West.

JEL-codes: N92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-his
Note: DAE
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Published as Taylor Jaworski & Dongkyu Yang, 2025. "Did war mobilization cause aggregate and regional growth?," Explorations in Economic History, .

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