Alfonso Herranz Loncán | Universitat de Barcelona (original) (raw)

Papers by Alfonso Herranz Loncán

Tst: Transportes, Servicios y telecomunicaciones, 2021

Gestión y Usos del Agua en la Cuenca del Ebro en el …, 2008

fnca.eu

' ~-'-'-'" - .~."""'"". --"" .. ... more ' ~-'-'-'" - .~."""'"". --"" .. , ". 1.a~,Qº,U!ica.hi~k<Ítl1ic~Lhª,,wan::adQPfQfpndaroente .1a :vida. de,.la~ coro,arcas ~irenai~,~s,X p'repi~e!lak.as..aragon.~~.as aJq 1¡lrgQde1 sig1c(J?C. " La constr~gÓ1L(;k..,gr,andes~emhalses.ha-sidQ-uno-de-losfaGtDt:es ..de l despoblación ...

Revista de Historia Industrial — Industrial History Review, 2002

The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World, 2021

1 We are grateful to Leandro Prados de la Escosura for sharing his relative income data set and t... more 1 We are grateful to Leandro Prados de la Escosura for sharing his relative income data set and to Leticia Arroyo Abad for sharing her wage data for the 19 th century.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

It is widely recognized that railways were one of the most important drivers of economic growth i... more It is widely recognized that railways were one of the most important drivers of economic growth in the 19 th and 20 th century, but it is less recognized that railways had a different impact across countries. In this paper, we first estimate the growth impact of Indian railways, one of the largest networks in the world circa 1900. Then, we show railways made a smaller contribution to income per-capita growth in India compared to the most dynamic Latin American economies between 1860 and 1912. The smaller contribution in India is related to four factors: (1) the smaller size of railway freight revenues in the Indian economy, (2) the higher elasticity of demand for freight services, (3) lower wages, and (4) higher fares. Our results suggest large disruptive technologies such as railways and other communication technologies can generate huge resources savings, but may not have large growth impacts.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013

By VINCENT BIGNON, RUI ESTEVES and ALFONSO HERRANZ-LONCÁN Railways were one of the main engines o... more By VINCENT BIGNON, RUI ESTEVES and ALFONSO HERRANZ-LONCÁN Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. But since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback

The social saving literature has highlighted the indispensable role that railways played before 1... more The social saving literature has highlighted the indispensable role that railways played before 1914 in several Latin American export-oriented economies, such as Mexico, Brazil or Argentina. This paper analyses the case of Uruguay, a country that, by 1914, had built one of the densest railway networks in Latin America. The paper shows that, in contrast to what happened in other economies of the region, the resource saving effects of the Uruguayan railways during the first globalisation were tiny, due to the small share that railway output accounted for within GDP. Three complementary reasons are suggested to explain that result: the geographical structure of the country, its sectoral specialisation and the small scale of the Uruguayan economy. Due to these three characteristics, Uruguay was unable to benefit from railways in the way that other export-oriented Latin American economies did during the first period of globalisation. This conclusion draws attention to the geographic-spec...

Armies have recurrently intervened in politics by leading (or giving support to) coups d’etat. Se... more Armies have recurrently intervened in politics by leading (or giving support to) coups d’etat. Several authors suggest that civilian governments have used military spending to overcome armies’ grievances and avoid their insubordination. However, recent quantitative analyses do not reach conclusive results when exploring the impact of total military expenditure on the frequency and the success of coups d’etat. We argue that total military spending might not be a good indicator of governments’ effort to gain the loyalty of the army, as it may conceal relevant changes in the composition of the military budget. This paper aims to open the military spending ‘black box’. While total military spending does not seem to have any relationship with the frequency of coups, payments to officers (along with other coup-proofing strategies) appears to be associated to a lower frequency of coups in 1850-1915 Spain. (Less)

Revista De Historia Industrial, 2003

En este articulo se intenta ofrecer una solucion a la llamada «paradoja del ferrocarril espanol»,... more En este articulo se intenta ofrecer una solucion a la llamada «paradoja del ferrocarril espanol», es decir, al aparente conflicto existente entre el elevado ahorro social del sistema ferroviario espanol, por un lado, y, por otro, la escasa utilizacion de la red y los pauperrimos rendimientos de las companias concesionarias (achacados tradicionalmente a un exceso de inversion en el sistema). En el articulo se analiza la informacion disponible referente a esos aspectos y se llega a la conclusion de que, a partir de la base empirica existente, no puede hablarse de exceso de inversion ni de fracaso economico en lo que respecta al sistema ferroviario espanol. Si, en cambio, podria hablarse de fracaso en lo que respecta a la intervencion estatal, aunque este tema queda pendiente de investigaciones futuras.

Railways were one of the main growth engines of Lat in American economies during the first global... more Railways were one of the main growth engines of Lat in American economies during the first globalization boom. In Latin American countries bef or 1914 the growth of the economy largely depended on export expansion and this, in t ur , was closely associated to railway construction. However, at the same time, railway in vestment seems to have required a consistent government support in the form of subsid ie , which were highly dependent on government revenues and export expansion. As a cons equence, some Latin American economies seem to have got trapped in a low level e quilibrium in which the economy, and government revenues, did not grow enough due to ins uff cient railway development, but railways did not develop enough due to the scarcity of public resources and the inability to grant subsidies to investors. The aim of this paper is to test the existence of that multiple equilibria situation, by analysing the bidirectiona l c usality between government revenues and railway develop...

This paper examines the extent to which the public allocation of road investment was influenced b... more This paper examines the extent to which the public allocation of road investment was influenced by political and electoral goals during the Spanish Restoration (1874-­?1923). More precisely, we seek to identify those provinces that were favoured with higher road construction expenditure and whether tactical strategies adopted by the political parties varied over time to reflect increasing political competition. In so doing, this paper combines concepts from three strands of literature: legislative pork-­?barrel; clientelism and machine politics; and electoral competition. Our main empirical finding for a panel of Spanish provinces between 1880 and 1914 suggests that constituencies electing a higher proportion of deputies from minority or opposition parties were initially punished through lower levels of road investment but that, by the end of the period, they were instead favoured with more resources than the rest. In addition, we also observe that senior deputies who had been minis...

, %). Comov.: Coeficiente de correlación entre las fluctuaciones de cada variable y las de la inv... more , %). Comov.: Coeficiente de correlación entre las fluctuaciones de cada variable y las de la inversión bruta en infraestructuras en el período anterior, en el mismo período y en el período siguiente. Fuentes: PIB, producción industrial e inversión bruta en maquinaria y equipos, de Prados de la Escosura (2003); inversión bruta en infraestructuras, mis cifras.

Existe un amplio consenso, tanto entre academicos como entre decisores politicos, sobre el cumulo... more Existe un amplio consenso, tanto entre academicos como entre decisores politicos, sobre el cumulo de beneficios derivados de la educacion. Mejorar el nivel educativo de la poblacion se ha identificado como un factor clave para el crecimiento economico y el desarrollo; pero tambien para el avance de la democracia, la movilidad social y la realizacion individual. La potencia de estas ventajas suele ser recogida en los discursos politicos, que consideran el progreso educativo un objetivo esencial para el desarrollo. Sin embargo, la amplitud de este consenso parece tornarse mas difuso a la hora de asignar recursos publicos. Entonces, objetivos macroeconomicos y tecnicos, presiones de las elites sociales o intereses politicos de los partidos gobernantes terminan configurando las opciones de politica. Esta tesis analiza el gasto publico en educacion y sus resultados. Adopta una doble perspectiva: considera grupos de paises y su dinamica en el tiempo. Sus tres capitulos exploran diferentes...

Biblioteca de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Base de datos de artículos de revistas, ...

Tst: Transportes, Servicios y telecomunicaciones, 2021

Gestión y Usos del Agua en la Cuenca del Ebro en el …, 2008

fnca.eu

' ~-'-'-'" - .~."""'"". --"" .. ... more ' ~-'-'-'" - .~."""'"". --"" .. , ". 1.a~,Qº,U!ica.hi~k<Ítl1ic~Lhª,,wan::adQPfQfpndaroente .1a :vida. de,.la~ coro,arcas ~irenai~,~s,X p'repi~e!lak.as..aragon.~~.as aJq 1¡lrgQde1 sig1c(J?C. " La constr~gÓ1L(;k..,gr,andes~emhalses.ha-sidQ-uno-de-losfaGtDt:es ..de l despoblación ...

Revista de Historia Industrial — Industrial History Review, 2002

The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World, 2021

1 We are grateful to Leandro Prados de la Escosura for sharing his relative income data set and t... more 1 We are grateful to Leandro Prados de la Escosura for sharing his relative income data set and to Leticia Arroyo Abad for sharing her wage data for the 19 th century.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

It is widely recognized that railways were one of the most important drivers of economic growth i... more It is widely recognized that railways were one of the most important drivers of economic growth in the 19 th and 20 th century, but it is less recognized that railways had a different impact across countries. In this paper, we first estimate the growth impact of Indian railways, one of the largest networks in the world circa 1900. Then, we show railways made a smaller contribution to income per-capita growth in India compared to the most dynamic Latin American economies between 1860 and 1912. The smaller contribution in India is related to four factors: (1) the smaller size of railway freight revenues in the Indian economy, (2) the higher elasticity of demand for freight services, (3) lower wages, and (4) higher fares. Our results suggest large disruptive technologies such as railways and other communication technologies can generate huge resources savings, but may not have large growth impacts.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013

By VINCENT BIGNON, RUI ESTEVES and ALFONSO HERRANZ-LONCÁN Railways were one of the main engines o... more By VINCENT BIGNON, RUI ESTEVES and ALFONSO HERRANZ-LONCÁN Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. But since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback

The social saving literature has highlighted the indispensable role that railways played before 1... more The social saving literature has highlighted the indispensable role that railways played before 1914 in several Latin American export-oriented economies, such as Mexico, Brazil or Argentina. This paper analyses the case of Uruguay, a country that, by 1914, had built one of the densest railway networks in Latin America. The paper shows that, in contrast to what happened in other economies of the region, the resource saving effects of the Uruguayan railways during the first globalisation were tiny, due to the small share that railway output accounted for within GDP. Three complementary reasons are suggested to explain that result: the geographical structure of the country, its sectoral specialisation and the small scale of the Uruguayan economy. Due to these three characteristics, Uruguay was unable to benefit from railways in the way that other export-oriented Latin American economies did during the first period of globalisation. This conclusion draws attention to the geographic-spec...

Armies have recurrently intervened in politics by leading (or giving support to) coups d’etat. Se... more Armies have recurrently intervened in politics by leading (or giving support to) coups d’etat. Several authors suggest that civilian governments have used military spending to overcome armies’ grievances and avoid their insubordination. However, recent quantitative analyses do not reach conclusive results when exploring the impact of total military expenditure on the frequency and the success of coups d’etat. We argue that total military spending might not be a good indicator of governments’ effort to gain the loyalty of the army, as it may conceal relevant changes in the composition of the military budget. This paper aims to open the military spending ‘black box’. While total military spending does not seem to have any relationship with the frequency of coups, payments to officers (along with other coup-proofing strategies) appears to be associated to a lower frequency of coups in 1850-1915 Spain. (Less)

Revista De Historia Industrial, 2003

En este articulo se intenta ofrecer una solucion a la llamada «paradoja del ferrocarril espanol»,... more En este articulo se intenta ofrecer una solucion a la llamada «paradoja del ferrocarril espanol», es decir, al aparente conflicto existente entre el elevado ahorro social del sistema ferroviario espanol, por un lado, y, por otro, la escasa utilizacion de la red y los pauperrimos rendimientos de las companias concesionarias (achacados tradicionalmente a un exceso de inversion en el sistema). En el articulo se analiza la informacion disponible referente a esos aspectos y se llega a la conclusion de que, a partir de la base empirica existente, no puede hablarse de exceso de inversion ni de fracaso economico en lo que respecta al sistema ferroviario espanol. Si, en cambio, podria hablarse de fracaso en lo que respecta a la intervencion estatal, aunque este tema queda pendiente de investigaciones futuras.

Railways were one of the main growth engines of Lat in American economies during the first global... more Railways were one of the main growth engines of Lat in American economies during the first globalization boom. In Latin American countries bef or 1914 the growth of the economy largely depended on export expansion and this, in t ur , was closely associated to railway construction. However, at the same time, railway in vestment seems to have required a consistent government support in the form of subsid ie , which were highly dependent on government revenues and export expansion. As a cons equence, some Latin American economies seem to have got trapped in a low level e quilibrium in which the economy, and government revenues, did not grow enough due to ins uff cient railway development, but railways did not develop enough due to the scarcity of public resources and the inability to grant subsidies to investors. The aim of this paper is to test the existence of that multiple equilibria situation, by analysing the bidirectiona l c usality between government revenues and railway develop...

This paper examines the extent to which the public allocation of road investment was influenced b... more This paper examines the extent to which the public allocation of road investment was influenced by political and electoral goals during the Spanish Restoration (1874-­?1923). More precisely, we seek to identify those provinces that were favoured with higher road construction expenditure and whether tactical strategies adopted by the political parties varied over time to reflect increasing political competition. In so doing, this paper combines concepts from three strands of literature: legislative pork-­?barrel; clientelism and machine politics; and electoral competition. Our main empirical finding for a panel of Spanish provinces between 1880 and 1914 suggests that constituencies electing a higher proportion of deputies from minority or opposition parties were initially punished through lower levels of road investment but that, by the end of the period, they were instead favoured with more resources than the rest. In addition, we also observe that senior deputies who had been minis...

, %). Comov.: Coeficiente de correlación entre las fluctuaciones de cada variable y las de la inv... more , %). Comov.: Coeficiente de correlación entre las fluctuaciones de cada variable y las de la inversión bruta en infraestructuras en el período anterior, en el mismo período y en el período siguiente. Fuentes: PIB, producción industrial e inversión bruta en maquinaria y equipos, de Prados de la Escosura (2003); inversión bruta en infraestructuras, mis cifras.

Existe un amplio consenso, tanto entre academicos como entre decisores politicos, sobre el cumulo... more Existe un amplio consenso, tanto entre academicos como entre decisores politicos, sobre el cumulo de beneficios derivados de la educacion. Mejorar el nivel educativo de la poblacion se ha identificado como un factor clave para el crecimiento economico y el desarrollo; pero tambien para el avance de la democracia, la movilidad social y la realizacion individual. La potencia de estas ventajas suele ser recogida en los discursos politicos, que consideran el progreso educativo un objetivo esencial para el desarrollo. Sin embargo, la amplitud de este consenso parece tornarse mas difuso a la hora de asignar recursos publicos. Entonces, objetivos macroeconomicos y tecnicos, presiones de las elites sociales o intereses politicos de los partidos gobernantes terminan configurando las opciones de politica. Esta tesis analiza el gasto publico en educacion y sus resultados. Adopta una doble perspectiva: considera grupos de paises y su dinamica en el tiempo. Sus tres capitulos exploran diferentes...

Biblioteca de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Base de datos de artículos de revistas, ...

CEPR DP, 2019

This article analyses the integration of the Spanish money market in the 19th century. We use a B... more This article analyses the integration of the Spanish money market in the 19th century. We use a Band-TAR model of prices of bills of exchange in 10 Spanish cities to measure convergence and efficiency in the market between 1825 and 1875. While price gaps generally decreased during the period, progress in efficiency was concentrated in a small group of cities. We suggest that increasing convergence was associated to the reduction in transaction costs, which started before the railways and the telegraph through improvements in roads and postal services. By contrast, the heterogeneous behavior of efficiency might have been largely associated to changes in the economic geography of Spain and their effects on the monetary market leadership structure.