The Central Argentine Railway and the Economic Development of Argentina, 1854–1881

Abstract

IT has long been obvious that the diffusion of technical knowledge has been closely identified with the rapid economic growth characteristic of the nineteenth century. Perhaps less appreciated is that technical innovation in the nineteenth century generally occurred in response to economic demands. Indeed, technological change is usually integral to the everyday processes of production and consumption. expresses something not adventitious to a nation's economic life but an inherent part of it.' Transportation innovation was crucial to Argentine economic growth in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Once constructed, railroads provided an unmatched stimulus to production, created a national market, helped to shape the export orientation of the economy, and promoted the economic and political integration of the nation. It is the contention of this paper that the railroads not only contributed to Argentine economic growth but also were built in response to clearly discerned market patterns and economic opportunity. Transportation innovation, in short, was intimately linked to economic demand. The Central Argentine Railway, constructed between Rosario and C0rdoba in the 1860s, provides an excellent example of this relationship. Analysis of the Central's early years also provides a test of a variant but similar theme-the railroad created demand and was the prime mover in economic development. As Wilfrid Latham observed in 1866, enterprise and industry, capital and civilization, peace and