The Choice Between High-Pressure and Low-Pressure Steam Power in America in the Early Nineteenth Century
分析了19世纪早期美国西部和东部沿海地区分别采用高压和低压蒸汽机的原因，发现燃料价格和利率差异足以解释蒸汽机类型的分布。
In the early nineteenth century, five versions of stationary steam engines were in widespread use. In America, the high-pressure engine was dominant in the West, but on the eastern seaboard the low-pressure engine was viable. In Britain, the low-pressure engine was overwhelmingly dominant. Here we analyze the evidence on cost and performance of high- and low-pressure engines, and show that fuel-price and interest-rate differentials were sufficient to explain the distribution of steam engine types in America.