"The chapters in this volume were presented on July 30-31, 2004, at the "Corruption and Reform" conference held at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA."--Acknowledgments.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Corruption and reform : introduction / Edward L. Glaeser and Claudia Goldin -- The concept of systematic corruption in American history / John Joseph Wallis -- Limiting the reach of the grabbing hand : graft and growth in American cities, 1880 to 1930 / Rebecca Menes -- Digging the dirt at public expense : governance in the building of the Erie Canal and other public works / Stanley L. Engerman and Kenneth L. Sokoloff -- Corporate governance and the plight of minority shareholders in the United States before the Great Depression / Naomi R. Lamoreaux and Jean-Laurent Rosenthal -- Water, water everywhere : municipal finance and water supply in American cities / David Cutler and Grant Miller -- The rise of the fourth estate : how newspapers became informative and why it mattered / Matthew Gentzkow, Edward L. Glaeser, and Claudia Goldin -- Bank chartering and political corruption in antebellum New York : free banking as reform / Howard Bodenhorn -- Regime change and corruption : a history of public utility regulation / Werner Troesken -- The irony of reform : did large employers subvert workplace safety reform, 1869 to 1930? / Price V. Fishback -- The determinants of progressive era reform : the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 / Marc T. Law and Gary D. Libecap -- Politics, relief, and reform : Roosevelt's efforts to control corruption and political manipulation during the New Deal / John Joseph Wallis, Price V. Fishback, and Shawn Kantor.

Despite recent corporate scandals, the United States is among the world?s least corrupt nations. But in the nineteenth century, the degree of fraud and corruption in America approached that of today?s most corrupt developing nations as municipal governments and robber barons alike found new ways to steal from taxpayers and swindle investors. In Corruption and Reform, contributors explore this shadowy period of United States history in search of better methods to fight corruption worldwide today. Contributors to this volume address the measurement and consequences of fraud and corruption, and t.