The growth and composition of imperial Austria’s fixed capital stock: new annual time series for 1870-1913

Research into the origins of economic growth in the late nineteenth century Habsburg Empire has so far suffered from a lack of evidence on the evolution of the capital stock. This paper documents new annual estimates of the gross domestic fixed capital stock in imperial Austria, distinguishing between buildings (residential, agricultural, commercial, public), infrastructure (railway tracks, roads), vehicles (railway rolling stock, ships) and machinery. The evidence shows that capital stock growth in late nineteenth century Austria was significantly slower than in Hungary, her partner in the Habsburg customs union, and in Germany.