The Impact of High-Speed Rail on Labor Spatial Misallocation– Based on Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis

Linnan Yan (), Menger Tu (), André Chagas and Lufeng Tai ()

No 2022_19, Working Papers, Department of Economics from University of São Paulo (FEA-USP)

Abstract: Existing studies neglected to assess the resource allocation effect of high-speed railway (HSR). This paper examines the impact of HSR on labor spatial misallocation in China by applying a modifified spatial difference-in-differences approach, which identify local treatment effect, spillover effect on treated and untreated regions. The study fifinds: (1) Opening HSR alleviates not only the local labor misallocation but also the misallocation in surrounding areas to a greater extent, including cities with HSR (treatment group) and without HSR (control group), which contributes to the overall productivity increase. The spillover effect of HSR is larger than the direct effect. (2) The largest spillover effect occurs in adjacent areas near 350 km apart, while the spillover effect disappears beyond 500 km. (3) The direction and magnitude of HSR effect depend on the urban scale. For large-scale cities, the impact of opening HSR is greater versus small-scale ones.

Keywords: high-speed railway; spatial difference-in-differences; labor spatial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 R15 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-08-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-geo, nep-tre and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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