The impact of the American Civil War on city growth

Marcos Sanso-Navarro, Fernando Sanz and María Vera-Cabello
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Fernando Sanz: Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
María Vera-Cabello: Centro Universitario de la Defensa de Zaragoza, Spain

Urban Studies, 2015, vol. 52, issue 16, 3070-3085

Abstract: This paper analyses the persistence of the shock caused by the American Civil War on the relative city size distribution of the USA. Two features make the study of this conflict interesting. First, it took place at an earlier stage of the industrialisation and urbanisation processes than those previously analysed in the related literature. Second, the battles were fought in the open field, not in urban areas. In line with previous results for the Second World War in Japanese and German cities, our findings suggest that the effects of the shock were transitory. Furthermore, some evidence regarding the possible presence of a ‘safe harbour effect’ is reported.

Keywords: American Civil War; relative size distribution; shock persistence; US city growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:52:y:2015:i:16:p:3070-3085

DOI: 10.1177/0042098014553553

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