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 | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2007 |
Keywords
- Railways
- Total factor productivity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
- Economics and Econometrics
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Crafts, N., Mills, T. C., & Mulatu, A. (2007). Total factor productivity growth on Britain's railways, 1852-1912: A reappraisal of the evidence. Explorations in Economic History, 44(4), 608-634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2007.01.002