Data and Code for Off the Rails: The Real Effects of Railroad Bond Defaults following the Panic of 1873 by Christopher Cotter

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Christopher Cotter, Oberlin College

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
AEADataShare			05/01/2021 12:54:AM
AEAP&PDataset1.dta	application/x-stata-dta	2.3 MB	04/30/2021 07:21:PM
AEAP&PDataset2.dta	application/x-stata-dta	131.1 KB	04/30/2021 07:21:PM
AEAReplication.do	text/plain	3.4 KB	04/30/2021 07:21:PM
Cotter AEAP&P README.pdf	application/pdf	914.7 KB	05/12/2021 11:33:AM
PDSI1870Final.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	2.4 MB	04/30/2021 07:22:PM
RRDatabyCity50Final.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	3.1 MB	04/30/2021 07:22:PM

Project Citation:

Cotter, Christopher. Data and Code for Off the Rails: The Real Effects of Railroad Bond Defaults following the Panic of 1873 by Christopher Cotter. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-05-13. https://doi.org/10.3886/E139482V1

Project Description

Summary: Although corporate default crises are often quite severe, previous work has found little impact on real macroeconomic variables. This article investigates the relationship between railroad defaults and the balance sheets of local banks following the Panic of 1873. Receivers appointed to run railroads in default lacked the legal tools necessary to fully maintain railroad operations. The results indicate that railroad bond defaults negatively impacted the lending activity of local banks. Affected banks experienced declines in loans and deposits along with increases in excess reserves. These findings point to a disruption of the transportation network attributable to railroad bond default crisis.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Panic of 1873; Financial Crises; Railroads; Corporate Bond Defaults

JEL Classification:
N21 Economic History: Financial Markets and Institutions: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

Geographic Coverage: United States

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-05-13]

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