The construction of the Portuguese railway and the supply of industrial products (1855-1890)

Abstract

The author attempts to determine the sectors involved in the construction of the Portuguese railway, as well as the capability of the country to meet the demand for industrial products, by evaluating the amount of supplies between 1855 and 1890. The expenditures of both the railway companies and the State have been examined, too. The author concludes that the Portuguese industry by itself would have been unable to meet most of the demand at the time. Yet the imports have occurred in a period of increasingly unbalanced balance of trade, they had little influence on it. This may be due to the distribution of benefits and wages in the structure of expenses.