Bright Investments: Measuring the Impact of Transport Infrastructure Using Luminosity Data in Haiti

Oscar Mitnik, Raul Sanchez () and Patricia Yanez-Pagans
Additional contact information
Raul Sanchez: IDB Invest

No 12018, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper quantifies the impacts of transport infrastructure investments on economic activity in Haiti, using satellite night-light luminosity as a proxy measure. Our identification strategy exploits the differential timing of rehabilitation projects across various road segments of the primary road network. We combine multiple sources of non-traditional data and carefully address concerns related to unobserved heterogeneity. The results obtained across multiple specifications consistently indicate that receiving a road rehabilitation project leads to an increase in luminosity values of between 6% and 26% at the communal section level. Taking into account the national level elasticity between luminosity values and GDP, we approximate that these interventions translate into communal section-GDP increases of between 0.5% and 2.1%, for communal sections benefited by a transport infrastructure project. We observe temporal and spatial variation in results, and crucially that the larger impacts appear once projects are completed and are concentrated within 2 km buffers around the intervened roads. Neither the richest or the poorest communities reap the benefits from road improvements, with gains accruing to those in the middle of the ranking of communal sections, based on unsatisfied basic needs. Our findings provide novel evidence on the role of transport investments in promoting economic activity in developing countries.

Keywords: Haiti; night-time luminosity; road investments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 O1 O47 R4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2018-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-lam, nep-ppm, nep-tre and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Working Paper: Bright Investments: Measuring the Impact of Transport Infrastructure Using Luminosity Data in Haiti (2018)
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