Fast track to growth? Railway access, population growth and local displacement in 19th century Switzerland

Konstantin Büchel and Stephan Kyburz

Journal of Economic Geography, 2020, vol. 20, issue 1, 155-195

Abstract: We study the effect of railway access on population growth in 19th century Switzerland. Our analysis is based on geo-referenced railway network information and an inconsequential units IV approach. Gaining direct railway access increased annual population growth by 0.4 percentage points, while municipalities in close vicinity but no direct access (i.e. 2–10 km distance) experienced a growth slump of similar magnitude. We interpret these findings as evidence of highly localised displacement effects related to railway connections.

Keywords: Railway access; population growth; displacement effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N33 N73 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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