IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/2502.21141.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tracks to Modernity: Railroads, Growth, and Social Movements in Denmark

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Gorges
  • Magnus {O}rberg Rove
  • Paul Sharp
  • Christian Vedel

Abstract

How do transport infrastructures shape economic transformation and social change? We examine the impact of railway expansion in nineteenth-century Denmark on local population growth, occupational shifts, and the diffusion of ideas. Using a historical panel dataset and a difference-in-differences approach, we document that railway access significantly increased population growth and accelerated structural change. Moreover, railway-connected areas were more likely to establish key institutions linked to civic engagement and the cooperative movement. These findings suggest that improved market access was not only a driver of economic modernization but also a catalyst for institutional and cultural transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Gorges & Magnus {O}rberg Rove & Paul Sharp & Christian Vedel, 2025. "Tracks to Modernity: Railroads, Growth, and Social Movements in Denmark," Papers 2502.21141, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2502.21141
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.21141
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christian Møller Dahl & Torben Johansen & Christian Vedel, 2024. "Breaking the HISCO Barrier: Automatic Occupational Standardization with OccCANINE," Working Papers 0255, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. Büchel, Konstantin & Kyburz, Stephan, 2018. "Fast track to growth? Railway access, population growth and local displacement in 19th century Switzerland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88689, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Konstantin Büchel & Stephan Kyburz, 2018. "Fast track to growth? Railway access, population growth and local displacement in 19th century Switzerland," CEP Discussion Papers dp1538, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Christian Vedel, 2024. "A Perfect Storm: First-Nature Geography and Economic Development," Working Papers 0262, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Despina Gavresi & Anastasia Litina & George Tsiachtsiras, 2022. "Railways and Roadways to Trust," Discussion Paper Series 2022_08, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Sep 2022.
    2. Borsati, Mattia & Albalate, Daniel, 2020. "On the modal shift from motorway to high-speed rail: evidence from Italy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 145-164.
    3. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Elisenda Paluzie & Jordi Pons & Javier Silvestre & Daniel A. Tirado, 2021. "New economic geography and economic history: a survey of recent contributions through the lens of the Spanish industrialization process," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(3), pages 719-751, September.
    4. Gavresi, Despina & Litina, Anastasia & Tsiachtsiras, Georgios, 2025. "Motorways and railroads to trust," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    5. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Elisenda Paluzie & Jordi Pons & Javier Silvestre & Daniel A. Tirado, 2021. "Correction to: New economic geography and economic history: a survey of recent contributions through the lens of the Spanish industrialization process," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(3), pages 753-753, September.
    6. Pascal Troxler, Marcus Roller, Monika Bandi Tanner, 2023. "The Development of Ski Areas and Its Relation to the Alpine Economy in Switzerland," Diskussionsschriften credresearchpaper44, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft - CRED.
    7. Yit Wey Liew & Muhammad Habibur Rahman & Audrey Kim Lan Siah, 2023. "Rail Stations To Development: Evidence From Colonial Malaya," Department of Economics Working Papers 2023_01, Durham University, Department of Economics.
    8. Berger, Thor, 2019. "Railroads and Rural Industrialization: evidence from a Historical Policy Experiment," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Bernhard, Marco & Leuch, Corina & Kordi, Maryam & Gruebner, Oliver & Matthes, Katarina L. & Floris, Joël & Staub, Kaspar, 2023. "From pandemic to endemic: Spatial-temporal patterns of influenza-like illness incidence in a Swiss canton, 1918–1924," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    10. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen & Nina Boberg-Fazlić & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard & Christian Vedel, 2024. "Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities," Working Papers 0253, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2502.21141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.