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Transport costs and economic growth in a backward economy: the case of Peru, 1820-1920*

Costos de Transporte y Crecimiento Económico en una Economía Sub-desarrollada. El Caso del Perú, 1820-1920

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2011

Luis Felipe Zegarra
Luis Felipe Zegarra*
Affiliation:
Professor of CENTRUM Católica, The Business School of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. lfzegarrab@pucp.edu.pe
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Abstract

This paper analyses the system of transportation and discusses the effect of geography and transport infrastructure on transport costs and economic growth in Peru during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Using primary and secondary sources, I find that geography imposed difficult transport challenges on Peruvians during this period. There were no navigable rivers in coastal and highland regions, railroads were scarce and most roads were inadequate for wagons, sometimes even for horses and mules. As a result, transport costs were extremely high, which constituted a barrier to trade, reduced gains from specialisation and retarded economic growth. Therefore, high transport costs seem to be one important factor in explaining the low income levels of Peru in the early 20th century in spite of the country's large endowments of natural resources.

Resumen

Este artículo analiza el sistema de transporte y discute el efecto de la geografía y de la infraestructura de transporte en los costos de trasporte y el crecimiento económico en el Perú durante el siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX. Usando fuentes primarias y secundarias, mostramos que la geografía impuso dificultades severas a los peruanos durante este período. El Perú no tuvo ríos navegables en la costa y en la sierra, hubo pocos ferrocarriles, y la mayor parte de los caminos eran inadecuados para carretas, incluso para caballos y mulas. Como resultado, los costos de transporte fueron extremadamente altos, lo que representó una barrera al comercio, redujo las ganancias por especialización y afectó el crecimiento económico. Por lo tanto, los altos costos de transporte parecen ser uno de los factores que explican los bajos niveles de ingreso de los peruanos a principios del siglo XX a pesar de sus grandes dotaciones de recursos naturales.

Keywords

transportationrailroadsPeruLatin AmericaN70N76R40transportecaminosPerúAmérica Latina
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , 09 December 2011 , pp. 361 - 392
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2011

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