Files

631233.pdf (248.91 KB)

Document type

Article

Version

Accepted version

Publication date

2014-03

All rights reserved

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/107288

Transport Technology and Economic Expansion: the Growth Contribution of Railways in Latin America before 1914

Journal Title

Authors

Director/Tutor

Additional contribution

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Abstract

This paper measures the direct contribution of railways to economic growth before 1914 in four Latin American economies with large railway systems (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay) using growth accounting techniques. The outcomes of the analysis indicate that the growth con- tribution of railways in Uruguay was very low. By contrast, in Argentina and Mexico railways provided huge benefits, amounting to 20-25% of income per capita growth before 1914. Finally, in Brazil, the growth contribution of railways was even higher, although this was largely a consequence of the stagnation of the Brazilian economy. These results provide an example of a technology whose growth contribution was much higher in some peripheral economies than in the core countries where it was developed.

Related resource

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0212610913000177

Subject

Ferrocarrils, Política energètica, Infraestructures (Transport), Amèrica Llatina

Subject (English)

Railroads, Energy policy, Transportation buildings, Latin America

Citation

Collections

Articles publicats en revistes (Història Econòmica, Institucions, Política i Economia Mundial)

Citation

HERRANZ LONCÁN, Alfonso. Transport Technology and Economic Expansion: the Growth Contribution of Railways in Latin America before 1914. Revista de Historia Económica. 2014. Vol. 32, num. 1, pags. 13-45. ISSN 0212-6109. [consulted: 5 of October of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/107288

Export metadata

JSON - METS

Share record