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The Spatial Impacts of a Massive Rail Disinvestment Program: The Beeching Axe

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  • Steve Gibbons
  • Stephan Heblich
  • Edward W. Pinchbeck

Abstract

This paper investigates the reversibility of the effects of transport infrastructure investments, based on a programme that removed much of the rail network in Britain during the mid-20th Century. We find that a 10% loss in rail access between 1950 and 1980 caused a persistent 3% decline in local population relative to unaffected areas, implying that the 1 in 5 places most exposed to the cuts saw 24 percentage points less population growth than the 1 in 5 places that were least exposed. The cuts reduced local jobs and shares of skilled workers and young people.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve Gibbons & Stephan Heblich & Edward W. Pinchbeck, 2024. "The Spatial Impacts of a Massive Rail Disinvestment Program: The Beeching Axe," NBER Working Papers 32800, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32800
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dave Donaldson, 2018. "Railroads of the Raj: Estimating the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 899-934, April.
    2. Erik Hornung, 2015. "Railroads And Growth In Prussia," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 699-736, August.
    3. Redding, Stephen J. & Turner, Matthew A., 2015. "Transportation Costs and the Spatial Organization of Economic Activity," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1339-1398, Elsevier.
    4. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2017. "Airports and economic performance in China," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 509, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Dave Donaldson & Richard Hornbeck, 2016. "Railroads and American Economic Growth: A "Market Access" Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 799-858.
    6. Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Turner, Matthew A., 2018. "Subways and urban growth: Evidence from earth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 85-106.
    7. Yatchew, A., 1997. "An elementary estimator of the partial linear model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 135-143, December.
    8. Yatang Lin & Yu Qin & Zhuan Xie, 2016. "High-speed rail in China," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 484, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. repec:cup:cbooks:9780521844413 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    11. Gibbons, Stephen & Wu, Wenjie, 2017. "Airports, market access and local economic performance: Evidence from China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 83630, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Stansbury & Dan Turner & Ed Balls, 2023. "Tackling the UK’s regional economic inequality: binding constraints and avenues for policy intervention," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3-4), pages 318-356, August.
    2. Philip McCann & Raquel Ortega-Argilés, 2022. "Regional Innovation, Industrial Policy and UK Interregional Challenges," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 243(4), pages 83-100, December.
    3. Di Cataldo, Marco & Romani, Giulia, 2023. "The local impact of closing undersized schools," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119359, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Marco Di Cataldo & Giulia Romani, 2023. "Rational cuts? The local impact of closing undersized schools," Working Papers 2023:03, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    5. Becka Brolinson, 2024. "Valuing public transit: The L‐train shutdown," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 52(3), pages 794-842, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • N74 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: 1913-
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

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