Railroads and technology adoption in Meiji Japan

Junichi Yamasaki

Explorations in Economic History, 2025, vol. 97, issue C

Abstract: Railroad access may accelerate technological progress in the industrial sector through various theoretical channels. By digitizing novel datasets of factories and railroad networks in late 19th- and early 20th-century Japan and using the least-cost path between prioritized destinations as an instrument, I find that the distance from railroads in 1892 accounts for 34 percent of the growth in steam power adopted by factories from 1888 to 1902. I also find evidence supporting several mechanisms behind the reduced-form effect, such as the trade channel. The results suggest that railroad construction played a significant role in the rapid technological catch-up of Meiji Japan.

Keywords: Railroads; Technology adoption; Meiji Japan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N65 N75 O14 O18 O33 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:97:y:2025:i:c:s0014498325000300

DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101683

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