Email
g.ravalli@lse.ac.uk

Office Address
Department of Economics
London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

Placement Officer
Matthias Doepke

Supervisors
John Van Reenen
Jeremiah Dittmar

References
John Van Reenen
Department of Economics
London School of Economics and Political Sciences
Houghton St, London WC2A 2AE
j.vanreenen@lse.ac.uk

Jeremiah Dittmar
Department of Economics
London School of Economics and Political Sciences
Houghton St, London WC2A 2AE
j.dittmar@lse.ac.uk

Dave Donaldson
MIT Department of Economics (E52-552)
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02142
ddonald@mit.edu

Download Giorgio's c.v.

The Effect of Transport Infrastructure on Innovation: The Role of Market Access in the English Railway Boom 

What is the impact of transport infrastructure on innovation? I study the historically unprecedented boom of the railway network in 19th Century England, which reduced average travel time between London and Birmingham by 80% between 1830 and 1911. Using  "accidentally connected" locations I show that building a rail station caused patents per capita to increase by over 75% in a district. I find no evidence that this effect was due to the relocation of existing inventors. The positive railroad effect is driven by an increase in market access (a demand-induced innovation effect). Across 1823-1861 the median Donaldson-Hornbeck measure of market access approximately doubles; a doubling of market access increases innovation by over 50%. This mechanism is economically and statistically significant. I also find that the railroad induced greater knowledge flows through improved communication between inventors; this effect appears distinct from the market access channel. I Link to paper.

Works in Progress

The Scars of War: Political Voting Patterns of Veterans, with Peter Ward-Griffin and Zixin Wang.

The Changing Face of Evil: Stereotypes in Film and TV.