The Cost of Railroad Regulation: The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period

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The Cost of Railroad Regulation : The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period. / Federico, Giovanni; Sharp, Paul R.

Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 2011.

Research output: Working paper › Research

Harvard

Federico, G & Sharp, PR 2011 'The Cost of Railroad Regulation: The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period' Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen.

APA

Federico, G., & Sharp, P. R. (2011). The Cost of Railroad Regulation: The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period. Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen.

Vancouver

Federico G, Sharp PR. The Cost of Railroad Regulation: The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period. Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen. 2011 Jun.

Author

Federico, Giovanni ; Sharp, Paul R. / The Cost of Railroad Regulation : The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period. Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, 2011.

Bibtex

@techreport{ed1b82bf8306480f8231183ce251e046,
title = "The Cost of Railroad Regulation: The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period",
abstract = "We investigate the costs of transportation regulation using the example of agricultural markets in the United States. Using a large database of prices by state of agricultural commodities, we find that the coefficient of variation (as a measure of market integration between states) falls for many commodities until the First World War. We demonstrate that this reflected changes in transportation costs which in turn in the long run depended on productivity growth in railroads. 1920 marked a change in this relationship, however, and between the First and Second World Wars we find considerable disintegration of agricultural markets, ultimately as a consequence of the 1920 Transportation Act. We argue that this benefited railroad companies in the 1920s and workers in the 1930s, and we put forward an estimate of the welfare losses for the consumers of railroad services (i.e. agricultural producers and final consumers).",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, market integration, price convergence, United States, agriculture, transportation, transportation regulation",
author = "Giovanni Federico and Sharp, {Paul R.}",
note = "JEL classification: K23, L51, N5, N7",
year = "2011",
month = jun,
language = "English",
publisher = "Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen",
address = "Denmark",
type = "WorkingPaper",
institution = "Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen",

}

RIS

TY - UNPB

T1 - The Cost of Railroad Regulation

T2 - The Disintegration of American Agricultural Markets in the Interwar Period

AU - Federico, Giovanni

AU - Sharp, Paul R.

N1 - JEL classification: K23, L51, N5, N7

PY - 2011/6

Y1 - 2011/6

N2 - We investigate the costs of transportation regulation using the example of agricultural markets in the United States. Using a large database of prices by state of agricultural commodities, we find that the coefficient of variation (as a measure of market integration between states) falls for many commodities until the First World War. We demonstrate that this reflected changes in transportation costs which in turn in the long run depended on productivity growth in railroads. 1920 marked a change in this relationship, however, and between the First and Second World Wars we find considerable disintegration of agricultural markets, ultimately as a consequence of the 1920 Transportation Act. We argue that this benefited railroad companies in the 1920s and workers in the 1930s, and we put forward an estimate of the welfare losses for the consumers of railroad services (i.e. agricultural producers and final consumers).

AB - We investigate the costs of transportation regulation using the example of agricultural markets in the United States. Using a large database of prices by state of agricultural commodities, we find that the coefficient of variation (as a measure of market integration between states) falls for many commodities until the First World War. We demonstrate that this reflected changes in transportation costs which in turn in the long run depended on productivity growth in railroads. 1920 marked a change in this relationship, however, and between the First and Second World Wars we find considerable disintegration of agricultural markets, ultimately as a consequence of the 1920 Transportation Act. We argue that this benefited railroad companies in the 1920s and workers in the 1930s, and we put forward an estimate of the welfare losses for the consumers of railroad services (i.e. agricultural producers and final consumers).

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - market integration

KW - price convergence

KW - United States

KW - agriculture

KW - transportation

KW - transportation regulation

M3 - Working paper

BT - The Cost of Railroad Regulation

PB - Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen

ER -

ID: 33594753