ABSTRACT
The importance of railroads as a leading sector or as a part of social overhead capital in the process of economic development requires little emphasis. Economic historians of various persuasions have examined the development of railroads descriptively, quantitatively, and even counter-factually, while business historians have provided illuminating sketches of patterns of growth and entrepreneurial activities for several individual roads. The purpose of this article is to suggest a link between the pattern and rate of growth of railroads and the entrepreneurial rationale behind it. The focus of the study will be upon railroads in the American South during the period 1865-1893.
