Full Citation
Title: Transportation Networks and the Geographic Concentration of Industry
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2014
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Abstract: This paper examines the effect of expanding transportation networks on changes in industry location within the United States. I use the construction of the Interstate Highway System, from 1962 to 1996, to measure how improvements in transportation infrastructure and market access alter industry concentration. To address the endogenous placement of highways, the paper instruments for eventual highway location using a military map of high priority routes designed after the First World War. To address the endogeneity surrounding the timing of highway construction, , I use a network theory algorithm to predict when each segment of the highway network should have been constructed. The algorithm ranks predicted highway segments based on their importance for network connectivity and uses a simple social planners problem to determine the order of predicted segment construction. Results indicate that counties that received interstate highways experience more overall employment growth than non-highway counties and the magnitude of this growth varies by industry. Employment in high way counties is also much more concentrated and this concentration is being captured in both more establishments and larger establishment sizes.
Url: http://www.colorado.edu/economics/papers/WPs-14/wp14-08/wp14-08.pdf
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Frye, Dustin
Series Title:
Publication Number: 14-08
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Pages:
Publisher Location: Boulder, Colorado
Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Land Use/Urban Organization, Other
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