Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/336881 
Year of Publication: 
2026
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Development Economics [ISSN:] 1872-6089 [Volume:] 181 [Article No.:] 103747 [Publisher:] Elsevier [Place:] Amsterdam [Year:] 2026 [Pages:] 1-17
Publisher: 
Elsevier, Amsterdam
Abstract: 
Are railways always a harbinger of prosperity? We examine the economic effects of railways in Bosnia–Herzegovina under Habsburg colonial rule. Our novel dataset consistently tracks the non-agricultural population share of over 4500 settlements in Habsburg Bosnia in 1885, 1895, and 1910, based on census records. Applying the inconsequential units approach, with least-cost paths as our instrumental variable, we estimate the effect of railway access on occupational change. In settlements directly connected to imperial railways and competition, non-agricultural activity declined as craftsmen returned to agriculture. By contrast, the new railway network temporarily accelerated non-agricultural activity, primarily by attracting factories and foreign labor. Railway access generated more sustained non-agricultural employment growth in settlements with higher human capital and stronger law enforcement. Overall, our findings suggest that colonial railways did not uniformly promote economic development: while railway access reshaped local occupational structures, lasting positive effects depended on local development preconditions.
Subjects: 
railways
occupational structure
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Habsburg Empire
JEL: 
I25
J21
N94
O18
R11
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.