Total factor productivity growth on Britain's railways, 1852-1912: A reappraisal of the evidence

Nicholas Crafts; Terence C. Mills; Abay Mulatu

doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2007.01.002

Total factor productivity growth on Britain's railways, 1852-1912: A reappraisal of the evidence

Nicholas Crafts, Terence C. Mills, Abay Mulatu

School of Psychological, Social and Behavioural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper revisits the issue of the productivity performance of Britain's railways with an improved dataset and modern cliometrics. We find a slowdown in TFP growth between 1850 and 1870, after which it stabilized at about 1.1%. An analysis of company-level productivity performance reveals large discrepancies in TFP growth and substantial cost inefficiency. The evidence suggests that there was managerial failure in companies with agency problems in a context of collusion and high entry barriers. A wider implication is that the neoclassical exoneration of late-Victorian British management may be less convincing for the services sector than for manufacturing.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	608-634
Number of pages	27
Journal	Explorations in Economic History
Volume	44
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2007.01.002
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2007

Keywords

Railways
Total factor productivity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

History
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/j.eeh.2007.01.002

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Cite this

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