Economic and Geographic Mobility on the Farming Frontier: Evidence from Appanoose County, Iowa, 1850–1870

David Galenson and Clayne L. Pope

The Journal of Economic History, 1989, vol. 49, issue 3, 635-655

Abstract: This article investigates the characteristics of early settlers on the midwestern farming frontier, the correlates of their geographic mobility, and the determinants of their wealth. Using evidence drawn from the 1850, 1860, and 1870 federal censuses we find average rates of growth of wealth over time that were considerably above the national average, a steeper cross-sectional relationship between wealth and age than those found for contemporary national samples, and a substantial positive effect of early arrival on the frontier on wealth levels. Very high levels of economic opportunity may have been a characteristic of the farming frontier.

Date: 1989
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Working Paper: Economic and Geographic Mobility on the Farming Frontier: Evidence from Appanoose County, Iowa 1850-1870 (1989)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:jechis:v:49:y:1989:i:03:p:635-655_00

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