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Start-up Station: The Impact of Rail Access on Entrepreneurship (Self-Employment) in England and Wales

train station
startups
self-employment
economics
entrepreneurship
transportation

Nikodem Szumilo, Antoine Vernet, and Rosa Sanchis-Guarner, “Start-up Station: The Impact of Rail Access on Entrepreneurship (Self-Employment) in England and Wales,” Under review, doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4890413

Authors
Affiliations

Nikodem Szumilo

University College London

Antoine Vernet

University College London

Rosa Sanchis-Guarner

University of Barcelona

Published

July 10, 2024

Doi

10.2139/ssrn.4890413

Abstract

We study the impact of improved rail access on entrepreneurship rates in England and Wales. We use data from the Census spanning 2001, 2011, and 2021 to analyse self-employment rates in granular geographic areas of around 200 residents. Specifically, we study how they respond to changes in the distance to the nearest train station occurring due to 56 new station openings. We find that all else equal, moving 1 km further away from a station reduces self-employment rates by 0.12 percentage points, with the effect dissipating beyond 7 km. Secondary results suggest that access to rail makes it easier to become self-employed while not making it more attractive compared to employment. Our findings suggest that rail infrastructure improvements can support local entrepreneurship and economic activity, contributing to regional development and reducing economic inequality.

Citation

 Add to Zotero 

@article{szumiloetal2024,
   author = {Szumilo, Nikodem and Vernet, Antoine and Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa},
   title = {Start-up Station: The Impact of Rail Access on Entrepreneurship (Self-Employment) in England and Wales},
   journal = {SSRN},
   DOI = {10.2139/ssrn.4890413},
   year = {2024},
   type = {Journal Article}
}