We study the effect of railway access on population growth in 19th century Switzerland. Our analysis is based on geo-referenced railway network information and an inconsequential units IV approach. Gaining direct railway access increased annual population growth by 0.4 percentage points, while municipalities in close vicinity but no direct access (i.e. 2-10 km distance) experienced a growth slump of similar magnitude. We interpret these findings as evidence of highly localised displacement effects related to railway connections.

中文翻译：

---

快速增长？19 世纪瑞士的铁路通道、人口增长和当地流离失所

我们研究了 19 世纪瑞士铁路通达对人口增长的影响。我们的分析基于地理参考铁路网络信息和无关紧要的单元 IV 方法。获得直达铁路使年人口增长率增加了 0.4 个百分点，而邻近但没有直达铁路（即 2-10 公里距离）的城市经历了类似幅度的增长下滑。我们将这些发现解释为与铁路连接相关的高度局部位移效应的证据。