Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This article reassesses the economic impact of Spanish railroads in 1850–1913, which has usually been considered to be substantially higher than in the most developed countries on the basis of the social saving methodology. The application of growth accounting techniques shows, by contrast, that the direct contribution of railroads to economic growth was lower in Spain than in the United Kingdom, mainly due to the low importance that railroad transport had within Spanish GDP before 1913.