In particular, Fishlow (1966) estimates that multifactor productivity in the railroad industry rose nearly 4 percent per year, on average, between 1840 and 1900, as compared with increases of around 1 percent per year for the economy as a whole.
Integration is realized when the market participants change their way of doing business. The task of the authorities is to remove obstacles to integration and to take care of the development of the regulatory and supervisory framework. The three main areas where financial integration should proceed are all related to market infrastructures. The first is to create a common European market in retail banking.