What does this research mean for the field?

Increased market access driven by the nineteenth-century US railroad expansion hastened the dispossession of Indigenous lands, demonstrating that such infrastructure improvements were detrimental to Indigenous peoples. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This research examines how improved market access impacted land loss for Indigenous nations during the nineteenth century.

May 16, 2026

Improved Market Access and Indigenous Land Loss: Evidence from the Nineteenth-Century US Railroad Expansion

Key Points

This research examines how improved market access impacted land loss for Indigenous nations during the nineteenth century.
Utilized the rapid expansion of the US railroad network as a quasi-natural experiment.
Analyzed the relationship between transport cost reductions and land dispossession of Indigenous homelands.
Investigated the effects of westward settlement patterns on Indigenous land loss.
Increased market access resulted in a hastening of Indigenous land dispossession.
Both reduced transport costs and mass settlement significantly contributed to this process.
Railroad-induced market access was found to be detrimental to Indigenous peoples, contrasting with benefits for settlers.

Abstract

We study the effects of colonial market access on the loss of lands for Indigenous nations, using the rapid expansion of the US railroad network in the nineteenth century as a quasi-natural experiment. We find that increased market access to Indigenous homelands led to a hastening of land dispossession. We find that both reductions in transport costs that improved connectivity to large population centers and the westward advancement of mass settlement were important channels. Taken together, our paper provides evidence that, unlike for settlers' outcomes, railroad-induced market access improvements may not have been beneficial for Indigenous peoples.

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Cite This Study

Chan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a080a41a487c87a6a40c1b3 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20261127

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