TY - JOUR
T1 - A general-purpose technology at work
T2 - The Corliss steam engine in the late-nineteenth-century United States
AU - Rosenberg, Nathan
AU - Trajtenberg, Manuel
PY - 2004/3
Y1 - 2004/3
N2 - The contribution to growth from the steam engine-Industrial Revolution icon and prime example of a "General Purpose Technology"-has remained unclear. This article examines the role that a particular design improvement in steam power, embodied in the Corliss engine, played in the growth of the U.S. economy in the late nineteenth century. Using detailed data on the location of Corliss engines and water-wheels and a two-stage estimation strategy, we show that the deployment of Corliss engines served as a catalyst for the industry's massive relocation into large urban centers, thus fueling agglomeration economies and further population growth.
AB - The contribution to growth from the steam engine-Industrial Revolution icon and prime example of a "General Purpose Technology"-has remained unclear. This article examines the role that a particular design improvement in steam power, embodied in the Corliss engine, played in the growth of the U.S. economy in the late nineteenth century. Using detailed data on the location of Corliss engines and water-wheels and a two-stage estimation strategy, we show that the deployment of Corliss engines served as a catalyst for the industry's massive relocation into large urban centers, thus fueling agglomeration economies and further population growth.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=1942466319&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/s0022050704002608
DO - 10.1017/s0022050704002608
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AN - SCOPUS:1942466319
SN - 0022-0507
VL - 64
SP - 61
EP - 99
JO - Journal of Economic History
JF - Journal of Economic History
IS - 1
ER -