The Contribution of Railways to Economic Growth in Latin America before 1914: the cases of Mexico, Brazil and Argentina

Herranz-Loncán, Alfonso ()
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Herranz-Loncán, Alfonso: Departament d’Història i Institucions Econòmiques, Universitat de Barcelona

No 903, Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) from Asociación Española de Historia Económica

Abstract: This paper presents preliminary estimates of the contribution of the railway technology to GDP growth in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico before 1914, and compares them with the available figures for two European economies (Britain and Spain). The results of the estimation indicate that the growth contribution of railways was substantially higher in those three Latin American economies than in Britain or Spain, although in Argentina and Mexico that high contribution was disguised behind the fast growth of the aggregate economy. This result is interpreted as a sign of the central role that the railways performed in the export-led growth episode of those three economies.

Keywords: railways; Latin America; Growth Contribution; Internal Transport; Export-Led Growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N76 H54 L92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-his and nep-lam
Date: 2009-07

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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:0903

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