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Railways, development, and literacy in India
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Chaudhary, Latika and Fenske, James (2023) Railways, development, and literacy in India. Journal of Economic History . ISSN 0022-0507. (In Press)
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Abstract
We study the effect of railroads, the single largest public investment in colonial India, on human capital. Using district-level data on literacy and two different identification strategies, we find railroads had positive effects on literacy, in particular on male and English literacy. We show that railroads increased literacy by raising secondary and elite primary, rather than vernacular primary schooling. Our mediation analysis suggests that non-agricultural income, urbanisation, and opportunities for skilled employment are important mechanisms, while agricultural income is not.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications L Education > LC Special aspects of education |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Railroads -- Social aspects -- India, Railroads -- India -- History, Literacy -- Social aspects -- India, Literacy -- India, Economic development -- Social aspects -- India | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Economic History | ||||||
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | ||||||
ISSN: | 0022-0507 | ||||||
Official Date: | 2023 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | In Press | ||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This article has been accepted for publication in a revised form for publication in Journal of Economic History https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 27 January 2023 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 30 January 2023 | ||||||
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