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Title: Proximate Causes: The Influence of Agglomeration, Access to Finance, and Infrastructure on US Economic Growth, 1860-1990

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2015

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Abstract: Location matters. A firm's proximity to other firms, finance, and infrastructure affects its profitability and productivity. My dissertation examines how. In chapter one, I quantify the underlying sources of agglomeration, or productivity gains from co-location, and investigate the extent to which those sources changed from 1880 to 1990. In chapter two, I shift to proximity to finance and measure the impact of local bank distress on local manufacturing outcomes during a period of unprecedented---and unrepeated---financial panic, the Great Depression. And in chapter three, I study the importance of local capital and infrastructure destruction on agricultural and manufacturing outcomes using General William Sherman's 1864-1865 march through the US South. Together, my dissertation chapters shed light on the influence of location on firm profitability and productivity, and in turn, US economic growth from 1860 to 1990.

Url: https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/17467374

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Authors: Lee, James Grant

Institution: Harvard University

Department: Economics

Advisor: Edward Glaeser

Degree: PhD

Publisher Location: Cambridge, MA

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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