Lessons from American Railroads as to Cheap Transportation

Railroads and American Law

Railroads and American Economic Growth : A

This paper examines the historical impact of railroads on the American economy, with a focus on quantifying the aggregate impact in the agricultural sector in 1890. Expansion of the railroad network may have affected all counties directly or indirectly — an econometric challenge that arises in many empirical settings. However, the total impact on each county is captured by changes in that count...

Railroads and American Economic Growth: a " Market Access " Approach *

This paper examines the historical impact of railroads on the American economy. Expansion of the railroad network and decreased trade costs may affect all counties directly or indirectly, an econometric challenge in many empirical settings. However, the total impact on each county can be summarized by changes in that county’s “market access,” a reduced-form expression derived from general equil...

Railroads and American Economic Growth: New Data and Theory∗

This paper examines the impact of railroads on American economic growth. Drawing on general equilibrium trade theory, changes in counties’ “market access” captures the aggregate impact of local changes in railroads. Using a new spatial network of freight transportation routes, we calculate county-to-county lowest transportation costs and counties’ implied market access. As railroads expanded fr...

Lessons From Zika Policies to Improve Gender Equity

Gender equity is easily supported in theory but harder to pursue in practice. In this article, the case of Zika travel policies is used to illustrate some glaring gaps related to gender, for both men and women, at both international and national levels. Zika travel policies have not considered new evidence on biological or social determinants of health, putting babies at risk of exposure. The a...