Does Highway Access Influence Local Employment? Evidence from German Municipalities

Luisa Dörr and Stefanie Gäbler

No 377, ifo Working Paper Series from ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Abstract: We examine how highway accessibility influences local employment outcomes. We exploit the stagewise expansion of the ”Baltic Sea highway”, the largest contiguous highway construction project in Germany since 1945. Results from difference-indifferences estimations and an event study approach show that highway access influences local employment outcomes in peripheral municipalities within 10 km road distance. Improved accessibility decreases employment by 9%. These effects are driven by reduced commuter flows within the periphery, while we find opposing effects on core municipalities. Improved accessibility also gives rise to a shift of population and economic activity from the periphery to the core, weakening the periphery as a place of work.

Keywords: Highway; infrastructure; accessibility; commuting; employment; municipalities; local governments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 H71 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre and nep-ure
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