Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China

Xiujuan Lan, Zheneng Hu and Chuanhao Wen

Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 2023, vol. 88, issue C

Abstract: Entrepreneurship plays a critical role in contributing to the realization of full employment in all countries around the world. By improving the efficiency of the flow of production factors, high-speed rail (HSR) has an important impact on regional economic development. However, little is known about whether HSR has improved urban entrepreneurial activity. This paper takes the opening of HSR as a quasi-natural experiment and constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model, using panel data on 284 prefecture-level cities in China for the period from 2005 to 2019, to systematically evaluate the impact of HSR openings on urban entrepreneurial activity. We find that the opening of HSR has increased the urban entrepreneurial activity, and that this effect is more obvious in cities at high administrative levels, with locational advantages, and highly developed economies, including service industries. HSR can enhance urban entrepreneurial activity by improving the level of talent aggregation and venture capital. These findings provide fresh perspectives on the connection between HSR and urban entrepreneurial activity.

Keywords: High-speed rail; Urban entrepreneurial activity; Talent aggregation; Venture capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceps:v:88:y:2023:i:c:s0038012123001040

DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2023.101604

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