Portage
Subtitle: path dependence and increasing returns in U.S. history
By: Hoyt Bleakley, Jeffrey Lin
Contributors: Lin, Jeffrey Y.; National Bureau of Economic Research
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 16314; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 16314.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Description: "We examine portage sites in the U.S.  South, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, including those on the fall line, a geomorphologic feature in the southeastern U.S.  marking the final rapids on rivers before the ocean.  Historically, waterborne transport of goods required portage around the falls at these points, while some falls provided water power during early industrialization.  These factors attracted commerce and manufacturing.  Although these original advantages have long since been made obsolete, we document the continuing-and even increasing-importance of these portage sites over time.  We interpret this finding in a model with path dependence arising from local increasing returns to scale"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 10/28/2010.

Includes bibliographical references.

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