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

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

Abstract

We examine how railway expansion shaped Denmark's nineteenth-century economic transformation and the diffusion of civic engagement in the form of Grundtvigian institutions. Using a new parish-level panel (1,589 parishes) and a difference-in-differences design that accounts for staggered adoption, we find that railroad connection increased local population by about 7 percent, driven in part by higher internal in-migration (roughly 10 percent), and accelerated structural change (manufacturing employment rises by about 1.8 percentage points and the non-agricultural share by about 2 percentage points). Rail access also increased the probability that a parish hosted a folk high school by about 1.7 percentage points and raised the local densities of both folk high schools and community houses. Overall, the results suggest that 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, revised Dec 2025.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2502.21141
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2015. "How the Danes discovered Britain: the international integration of the Danish dairy industry before 1880," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 19(4), pages 432-453.
    4. Christian M{o}ller Dahl & Torben Johansen & Christian Vedel, 2024. "Breaking the HISCO Barrier: Automatic Occupational Standardization with OccCANINE," Papers 2402.13604, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2026.
    5. Christian Vedel, 2024. "A Perfect Storm: First-Nature Geography and Economic Development," Working Papers 0262, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    6. David Andersson & Thor Berger & Erik Prawitz, 2023. "Making a Market: Infrastructure, Integration, and the Rise of Innovation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 258-274, March.
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