Railways, Development, and Literacy in India
研究了英属印度时期最大公共投资：铁路对人力资本（识字率）的影响，发现铁路提升了男性及英语识字率，主要通过促进中等和精英初等教育实现，非农业收入、城市化和技能就业是重要机制。
We study the effect of railroads, the single largest public investment in colonial India, on human capital. Using district-level data on literacy and two different identification strategies, we find railroads had positive effects on literacy, in particular on male and English literacy. We show that railroads increased literacy by raising secondary and elite primary schooling, rather than vernacular primary schooling. Our mediation analysis suggests that non-agricultural income, urbanization, and opportunities for skilled employment are important mechanisms, while agricultural income is not.