Highway To Hitler

Hans-Joachim Voth and Voigtländer, Nico
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Nico Voigtländer ()

No 9983, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Can infrastructure investment win ?hearts and minds?? We analyze a famous case in the early stages of dictatorship ? the building of the motorway network in Nazi Germany. The Autobahn was one of the most important projects of the Hitler government. It was intended to reduce unemployment, and was widely used for propaganda purposes. We examine its role in increasing support for the NS regime by analyzing new data on motorway construction and the 1934 plebiscite, which gave Hitler great powers as head of state. Our results suggest that road building was highly effective, reducing opposition to the nascent Nazi regime.

Keywords: Political economy; Infrastructure spending; Establishment of dictatorships; Pork-barrel politics; Nazi regime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 N44 N94 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-pol and nep-tre
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP9983 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Working Paper: Highway to Hitler (2015)
Working Paper: Highway to Hitler (2014)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9983

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP9983

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().