The Impact of Railway on the Regional Economic Development and Social Mobility in the Congress Kingdom of Poland

Piotr Koryś () and Marcin Wroński
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Piotr Koryś: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences
Marcin Wroński: Collegium of World Economy, SGH Warsaw School of Economics; Visiting Scholar, Minda de Gunzburg, Center for European Studies, Harvard University

No 2025-07, Working Papers from Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw

Abstract: We estimate the impact of railway construction on local populations in Russian Poland in the 19th century. The initial wave of railway expansion outpaced economic demand. From the late 1860s onward, locations connected to the railway network experienced significantly higher population growth. The economic effects of the connection to the railway network increased over time. State-funded military railway lines generated a smaller impact than private-owned lines. We also study the impact of the railway connection on social mobility proxied through a number of notable people born in a given city. However, we do not identify any robust impact.

Keywords: economic history; Russian Poland; economic growth; railways (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N13 N33 N73 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-07

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