Capital Cities and Road Network Integration: Evidence from the U.S

Nicole Loumeau ()
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Nicole Loumeau: ETH Zurich, Switzerland

No 21-498, KOF Working papers from KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich

Abstract: This paper quantifies the causal effect of capital status on road network integration of U.S.micro/metropolitan statistical areas. Road network integration is defined using a class of measurements that evaluate how well a location is connected to all other locations through the National Highway System (NHS).To tackle the non-random placement of capital cities, I instrument capital status using a k-means clustering algorithm that predicts the boundaries of 48 U.S. states and defines the geographical center as a hypothetical capital location. Overall, I find significant and robust evidence that capital cities are more directly integrated in the NHS than non-capital cities of similar characteristics. I discuss two possible mechanisms behind the capital premium: (i) the favorable geographical position of capital cities within their state and (ii) a political interest in connecting capital cities well to major urban areas around.

Keywords: capital cities; transport infrastructure; market access; clustering algorithm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C26 O18 R42 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2021-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-tre and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kof:wpskof:21-498

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