Replication data for: Regulation, Ownership, and Costs: A Historical Perspective from Indian Railways

Name: Replication data for: Regulation, Ownership, and Costs: A Historical Perspective from Indian Railways
Published: 2012-02-01
License: This work is licensed under an Other license created by the data depositor. Please refer to the LICENSE file, which should be located alongside the project data and documentation.
Keywords: Administrative Data

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Dan Bogart; Latika Chaudhary

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Dataset-AEJPol-2010-0178			10/26/2021 11:42:AM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/13/2019 03:06:AM

Project Citation:

Bogart, Dan, and Chaudhary, Latika. Replication data for: Regulation, Ownership, and Costs: A Historical Perspective from Indian Railways. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2012. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-13. https://doi.org/10.3886/E114777V1

Project Description

Summary: This paper studies the relationship between operational costs and state ownership in Indian railways between 1874 and 1912. We find the move to state ownership significantly decreased working expenses. The cost declines are not driven by anticipation effects, changes in reporting standards, or long run trends. Rather, the evidence suggests the colonial Government of India reduced operational costs by cutting labor costs. Our surprising results can be explained by the undemocratic colonial nature of the Government of India, a fiscal system heavily reliant on railways for revenues, and a regulatory environment under private ownership that weakened incentives to lower costs. (JEL L32, L51, L92, N45, N75, O18, R41)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Administrative Data

JEL Classification:
      L32 Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
      L51 Economics of Regulation
      L92 Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
      N45 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Asia including Middle East
      N75 Economic History: Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: Asia including Middle East
      O18 Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
      R41 Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

Geographic Coverage: Colonial India

Time Period(s): 1882 – 1912

Universe: All railway systems operating in colonial India.

Data Type(s): administrative records data; observational data

Methodology

Data Source: Government administrative records.

Unit(s) of Observation: Railway System,

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V1 [2019-10-13]

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