速度经济学:电车系统的电气化和波士顿夫妻店的衰落，1885-1905

IF 5.5 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

American Economic Journal-Applied Economics Pub Date : 2021-10-01 DOI:10.1257/app.20180795

Wei You

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引用次数: 0

摘要

小公司在19世纪主宰了美国经济，今天它们在许多发展中经济体中仍然占据主导地位。本文检验了由于城市交通技术不发达导致的地理市场分割是否阻碍了大型零售/批发商店的出现。我利用了波士顿在1889年至1896年之间的马车电车系统中快速电气化的自然实验。通过分析最新的数字化数据，我发现在电气化之后，与非铁路地区相比，铁路连接地区的食品零售/批发场所的独资经营比例急剧下降。有轨电车电气化导致的市场准入变化可以解释这种影响。(jel l25, l81, l92, n71, n91, r41)

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The Economics of Speed: The Electrification of the Streetcar System and the Decline of Mom-and-Pop Stores in Boston, 1885–1905

Small firms dominated the American economy in the nineteenth century, and they still dominate in many developing economies today. This paper tests whether geographic market segmentation due to underdeveloped intracity transportation technology precludes the emergence of large retail/wholesale stores. I exploit the natural experiment of Boston’s rapid electrification from its previous horse-drawn streetcar system, which occurred between 1889 and 1896. Analyzing newly digitized data, I find that rail-connected locations experienced a sharp decline in the share of sole proprietorships among food retail/wholesale establishments after the electrification relative to off-rail locations. Changes in market access due to streetcar electrification can explain this effect. (JEL L25, L81, L92, N71, N91, R41)

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来源期刊

American Economic Journal-Applied Economics ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

1.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： American Economic Journal: Applied Economics publishes papers covering a range of topics in applied economics, with a focus on empirical microeconomic issues. In particular, we welcome papers on labor economics, development microeconomics, health, education, demography, empirical corporate finance, empirical studies of trade, and empirical behavioral economics.