Railways and Price Convergence in British India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Claremont Colleges; Pomona College
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050710000318
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 351-377
• 关键词: market integration; railroads; failures

摘要

The period 1861 to 1920 witnessed sharp price convergence in British Indian grain markets. Previous research attributed this to the construction of railways. But tests examining price differences between districts provide surprisingly weak support for that hypothesis. Railways mattered, but seem capable of explaining only about 20 percent of the decline in price dispersion. One explanation may be that India was a partially integrated economy at the time of railroad expansion. Lines connecting districts on preexisting trade routes had very small price effects. There is also some evidence of a border effect on lines between British India and princely states.