Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP4356
Authors: Nicholas Crafts; Abay Mulatu
Abstract: Where transport costs were falling, were the new economic geography forces for industry agglomeration and dispersion at work in the movement of industry in pre-1931 Britain? This Paper examines the issue empirically using a general model that nests the Heckscher-Ohlin factor endowment with new economic geography models. The evidence suggests that while the former mainly drove the location of pre-1931 British industry, the scale economies aspect of the latter also played a role.
Keywords: Agglomeration economies; British manufacturing; Industry location; Transport costs
JEL Codes: N23; O18; O52
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| factor endowments (D29) | industry location (L89) |
| coal abundance (Q35) | industry location (L89) |
| human capital (educated population) (J24) | industry location (L89) |
| interaction between market potential and establishment size (L25) | industry location (L89) |
| transport costs (L91) | significance of location advantages (R32) |
| scale economies (F12) | industry location (L89) |
| traditional factor endowment arguments (F16) | industry location (L89) |