Work

Railway expansion and socioeconomic transformation in Hungary, 1880–1910

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines how access to railways influenced several socioeconomic dimensions—such as educational attainment, local revenues, child mortality, tuberculosis-related deaths, and the prevalence of industrial employment—across more than 12,500 Hungarian communities during 1880 and 1910. Using matching and inverse probability weighting estimators to identify causal effects for treated settlements, we uncover positive impacts on literacy rates, settlement income and tax, and industrial workforce participation. We find no statistically significant causal effect on TBC-related deaths and infant mortality.

Source: Cliometrica

DOI: 10.1007/s11698-026-00340-2

Authors: Peter Foldvari, Gábor Demeter

Institutions: University of Amsterdam, ELTE Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of History

Language: English

Topic: Historical Economic and Social Studies

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth, No poverty

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,190