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Locomotives of Local Growth: The Short- and Long-Term Impact of Railroads in Sweden

Berger, Thor LU and Enflo, Kerstin LU orcid (2014) In Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues
Abstract
This paper studies the impact of railroads on town-level growth in Sweden over 150 years. Our analysis builds on the fact that railroads historically were extended quasi-randomly across towns. Towns that gained access to a rail connection grew larger relative to other

towns, with large negative spillovers on unconnected nearby towns. Over the 20th century, we find little adjustment to the initial shock in town populations, despite a sharp reversal in relative connectivity. Evidence on historical investments and present-day factors is consistent with this temporary shock giving rise to path dependence in the location of economic activity.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Path Dependence, Urban Growth, Transport Infrastructure
in
Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues
issue
132
pages
47 pages
publisher
Department of Economic History, Lund University
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cc6dcdf0-4521-4ae4-8470-250f23278414 (old id 7868946)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:58:51
date last changed
2021-10-01 02:19:57
@misc{cc6dcdf0-4521-4ae4-8470-250f23278414,
  abstract     = {{This paper studies the impact of railroads on town-level growth in Sweden over 150 years. Our analysis builds on the fact that railroads historically were extended quasi-randomly across towns. Towns that gained access to a rail connection grew larger relative to other<br/><br>
towns, with large negative spillovers on unconnected nearby towns. Over the 20th century, we find little adjustment to the initial shock in town populations, despite a sharp reversal in relative connectivity. Evidence on historical investments and present-day factors is consistent with this temporary shock giving rise to path dependence in the location of economic activity.}},
  author       = {{Berger, Thor and Enflo, Kerstin}},
  keywords     = {{Path Dependence; Urban Growth; Transport Infrastructure}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{132}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Economic History, Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues}},
  title        = {{Locomotives of Local Growth: The Short- and Long-Term Impact of Railroads in Sweden}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5899588/7868956}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}