Agricultural Improvements and Access to Rail Transportation: the American Midwest as a Test Case, 1850-1860

29 Pages Posted: 17 Nov 2009 Last revised: 29 May 2023

See all articles by Jeremy Atack

Jeremy Atack

Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Science - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Robert A. Margo

Boston University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: November 2009

Abstract

During the 1850s, land in U.S. farms surged by more than 100 million acres while almost 50 million acres of land were transformed from their raw, natural state into productive farmland. The time and expense of transforming this land into a productive resource represented a significant fraction of domestic capital formation at the time and was an important contributor to American economic growth. Even more impressive, however, was the fact that almost half of these total net additions to cropland occurred in just seven Midwestern states which comprised barely less than one-eighth of the land area of the country at that time. Using a new GIS-based transportation database linked to county-level census, we estimate that at least a quarter (and possibly two-thirds or more) of this increase can be linked directly to the coming of the railroad to the region. Farmers responded to the shrinking transportation wedge and rising revenue productivity by rapidly expanding the area under cultivation and these changes, in turn, drove rising farm and land values.

Suggested Citation

Atack, Jeremy and Margo, Robert A., Agricultural Improvements and Access to Rail Transportation: the American Midwest as a Test Case, 1850-1860 (November 2009). NBER Working Paper No. w15520, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1505843

Jeremy Atack (Contact Author)

Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Science - Department of Economics ( email )

Box 1819 Station B
415 Calhoun Hall
Nashville, TN 37235
United States
615-322-2871 (Phone)
615-343-8495 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Robert A. Margo

Boston University - Department of Economics ( email )

270 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
United States
617-353-6819 (Phone)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
45
Abstract Views
615
PlumX Metrics