We examine impacts of market integration on the development of American manufacturing, as railroads expanded through the latter half of the 19th century. Using new county-by-industry data from the Census of Manufactures, we estimate substantial impacts on manufacturing productivity from relative...

This paper estimates the elasticity of substitution between capital and skill using variation across U.S. counties in immigration-induced skill-mix changes between 1860 and 1930. We find that capital began as a q-complement for skilled and unskilled workers, and then dramatically increased its...

This paper estimates the elasticity of substitution between capital and skill using variation across U.S. counties in immigration-induced skill-mix changes between 1860 and 1930. We find that capital began as a q-complement for skilled and unskilled workers, and then dramatically increased its...

Little is known about plant size in Canada for the 1870-1910 period and more information could enrich our understanding of a number of issues relating to the Canadian economic, business and labour history. More specifically increases in plant size could serve to indicate if entrepreneurs were...

The long-standing view in US economic history is the shift in manufacturing in the nineteenth century from the artisan shop to the mechanized factory led to "labor deskilling." Craft workers were displaced by mix of semi-skilled operatives, unskilled workers, and a reduced force of mechanics to...

Using quantitative data on sectoral productivity and labor force shares, this paper assesses distribution's contribution to growth in aggregate output per worker between 1869 and 1992, speculates about performance during the prior two decades, and explores the implications and determinants of...