Where transport costs were falling, were the new economic geography forces for industry agglomeration and dispersion at work in the location of industry in pre-1931 Britain? This paper examines the issue empirically using a general model that nests the Heckscher-Ohlin factor endowment with new...

This work shows the asymmetric effect of the reduction in transportation costs across different sectors in the process of the Great Divergence. Specifically, the analysis indicates that reductions in transportation costs of industrial goods enhance convergence of the growth rates of trading...