Highway networks and regional poverty: Evidence from Chinese counties

Zhihua Tian, An Hu, Zhen Yang and Yongran Lin

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 2024, vol. 69, issue C, 224-231

Abstract: This paper establishes a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model to estimate the impact of highways on regional poverty using county-level panel data from China. We construct a multidimensional poverty index and use satellite-monitored night light brightness as a proxy indicator. The results demonstrate that highways significantly reduce county poverty and that the poverty reduction effect becomes increasingly pronounced over time. This result remains robust after controlling for non-random highway route selection. Furthermore, the poverty reduction effect of highways is conditional, with a significant poverty reduction effect in the less economically-developed western regions and non-municipal counties, and no significant poverty reduction effect in the economically-developed eastern and central regions and municipal districts. Moreover, the poverty reduction effect of highways gradually decreases as the average altitude of counties increases. Our tests provide empirical evidence for effective road investments in developing countries that incorporate poverty alleviation targets.

Keywords: Highways; Poverty alleviation; Road infrastructure; Staggered difference-in-differences model; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O18 R11 R42 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:streco:v:69:y:2024:i:c:p:224-231

DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2023.12.010

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