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A global perspective on railway inefficiency and the rise of state ownership, 1880-1912

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  • Bogart, Dan

Abstract

The rise of state ownership was one of the most significant policy changes in the railway sector in the early 20th century. This paper estimates the cost inefficiency of railway sectors across countries using stochastic frontier models and examines whether the rise of state ownership affected inefficiency. The results show that the trends in inefficiency differed substantially across countries from the 1880s to 1912. They also show that inefficiency increased with greater nationalizations and decreased with greater state railway construction. A counterfactual analysis suggests that the rise of state ownership contributed to lower inefficiency in most countries, but the effects within countries varied depended on whether state ownership increased through nationalizations or new construction.

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  • Bogart, Dan, 2010. "A global perspective on railway inefficiency and the rise of state ownership, 1880-1912," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 158-178, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:47:y:2010:i:2:p:158-178
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    1. Nicola Pontarollo & Roberto Ricciuti, 2015. "Railways and the Productivity Gap in Italy: Persistence and Divergence after Unification," CESifo Working Paper Series 5438, CESifo.
    2. Quiroz Flores, Alejandro & Pfaff, Katharina, 2021. "Private provision of public goods and political survival: Rail transport in four European democracies in the 20th century," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Liu, Dan & Meissner, Christopher M., 2015. "Market potential and the rise of US productivity leadership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 72-87.
    4. Bogart, Dan, 2022. "Infrastructure and institutions: Lessons from history," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    5. Bogart, Dan & Chaudhary, Latika, 2015. "Off the rails: Is state ownership bad for productivity?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 997-1013.
    6. Alessia Patuelli, 2017. "Le aziende ferroviarie inglesi e italiane tra Ottocento e Novecento: profili di intervento pubblico," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(2), pages 7-42.
    7. Martí-Henneberg, Jordi, 2017. "The influence of the railway network on territorial integration in Europe (1870–1950)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 160-171.

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