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In the standard (Yaari) framework, life insurance is demanded by the insured: a consumer who faces an uncertain lifetime; whereas in my model life insurance is demanded by the beneficiaries, dependents of the insured who face an income stream contingent on the insured's lifetime. The model is...

This paper re-examines the agriculture of Lower Canada with an emphasis on geographic variation in efficiency. The paper estimates agricultural output per worker by county using census data for 1851. We find only limited support for the factors emphasized in the literature. We find no great...

Building on the work of McCalla, McInnis and others we describe the early income of Upper Canada over the period 1826 to 1851. The Municipal Assessments, which report ownership of land, livestock and other property, allow us to develop conjectural estimates of farm income; and various Provincial...

The impact of investment in education on wage rates is computed for 1870-1900 in urban and rural areas of the United States. The impact of the investment on wage rates is determined for rates of return to education of 10%, 15% and 20%. For a 15% rate of return, urban workers had an earnings...

This paper investigates the economics of the transition of land from rural to urban use. A simple model examines the developer's problem: when and at what density should vacant land be developed to maximize the present value of land. Simple rules emerge relating the timing and density of new...