Publications
Publications
- Forthcoming
- Management Science
You've Got Mail! The Late 19th-Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Firm Creation, and Firm Performance
By: Astrid Marinoni and Maria P. Roche
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of the expansion of the US Postal Service in the late 19th century
on firm creation and performance. Utilizing newly digitized archival data on historic business establishments,
post office locations, and road networks in California, our study identifies a positive
relationship between the expansion of the Postal Service and the emergence of new firms. To address
endogeneity concerns, we leverage an unexpected change in the Postal Service route network.
Our findings suggest that the Postal Service played a significant role in facilitating firm entry by
acting as a carrier of specialized knowledge, rather than as a financial service or mass communication
infrastructure. We further reveal that while increased competition from new entrants generally
exerted downward pressure on incumbent firms, those relying on specialized knowledge and public
technology inputs significantly benefited from local Postal Service access. Taken together, our
study underscores the critical role played by the Postal Service in knowledge diffusion and local economic
development by enabling the sourcing of specialized knowledge and technologies from other
geographies. Overall, our results contribute to a broader understanding of how communication
and knowledge dissemination infrastructure can drive entrepreneurship and firm growth, carrying
important implications for contemporary discussions on infrastructure development, its potential
to stimulate entrepreneurial activity, innovation, and foster local economic communities.
Keywords
Institutional Innovation; Knowledge Exchange; US Postal Service; Firm Performance; Infrastructure; Expansion; Government Administration; Communication; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Public Administration Industry; California
Citation
Marinoni, Astrid, and Maria P. Roche. "You've Got Mail! The Late 19th-Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Firm Creation, and Firm Performance." Management Science (forthcoming).