Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/129997 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
School of Economics Discussion Papers No. 1514
Publisher: 
University of Kent, School of Economics, Canterbury
Abstract: 
We investigate the role of industrial structure in labor productivity growth in U.S. cities between 1880 and 1930 using a new dataset constructed from the Census of Manufactures. We find that increases in specialization were associated with faster productivity growth but that diversity only had positive effects on productivity performance in large cities. We interpret our results as providing strong support for the importance of Marshallian externalities. Industrial specialization increased considerably in U.S. cities in the early 20th century, probably as a result of improved transportation, and we estimate that this resulted in significant gains in labor productivity.
Subjects: 
agglomeration economies
Jacobian externalities
manufacturing productivity
Marshallian externalities
industrial structure
JEL: 
N91
N92
O7
R32
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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