Good data on US stock market returns before the advent of the Cowles' (1939) dataset in 1871 have been scarce. Small samples and an inability to observe dividends render current estimates suspect. I report total return for a much larger sample of stocks before 1871 than heretofore seen. I...

Anaerobic digestion technology uses microorganisms to consume waste and produce methane gas, which serves as a source of clean renewable energy. Although anaerobic digestion is widely used for both purposes throughout the rest of the world, it is rarely applied in the United States. This Article...

How do social interactions shape collective action, and how are they mediated by networkedinformation technologies? We answer these questions studying the Temperance Crusade, a wave of anti-liquor protest activity spreading across 29 states between 1873-1874. Relying on exogenous variation in...

We study the descriptiveness of the “unravelling” prediction in the 1890s streetcar industry. In this historical setting, capital-intensive streetcar companies gain the opportunity to disclose their earnings to dispersed investors via a new, quarterly newspaper supplement. We document that a...

If the complicated birth of United States patent law can be told through the story of a single figure, that person is Oliver Evans. Evans’s patenting activities spanned the Founding. He received patents from four states in the 1780s, and then, in 1791, the third U.S. patent to be granted. This...

The railroad industry was critical to several aspects in the development of fish culture in the Unites States. Without the assistance of railroad companies across the country, the U.S. Fish Commission and their state equivalents would not have succeeded in their efforts to save many species in...

Private toll roads shaped and accommodated trade and migration routes, leaving social and political imprints on the communities that debated and supported them. Private road building came and went in waves throughout the 19th century and across the country. All told, between 2,500 and 3,200...

During the first session of the 111th Congress (Jan. 6-Oct. 30), the Green Bag will be working out the kinks in a new project: FantasyLaw. We are looking for a few test subjects to help us - to share the joys of playing the beta version of FantasyLaw. If you know (or would like to know) enough...

Government involvement in transportation infrastructure is often wasteful because improvements are made where they are not needed or necessary improvements are more costly or of lower quality than they would be if privately owned. Early in the nation's history, large numbers of bridges, roads,...

Small firms dominated the American economy in the nineteenth century, and still dominate in many developing economies today. This paper tests whether geographic market segmentation due to underdeveloped intracity transportation technology precludes the emergence of large retail/wholesale stores....