 High-speed rail and employment disparity: A sectoral perspectiveLongfei Zheng, Shuping Wu, Anming Zhang and Zhengyi Zhou Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2026, vol. 209, issue C Abstract: By reducing intercity transport costs, transportation infrastructure can reshape the spatial distribution of urban sectoral employment and affect regional disparity. This paper develops a theoretical model to illustrate the effects of high-speed rail (HSR) on employment disparity between core and peripheral cities, highlighting differences between the manufacturing and service sectors. The model’s predictions are supported by city-pair-level evidence. We empirically show that HSR connections significantly widen employment gaps between core and peripheral cities in the service sector, while slightly narrowing the gap in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, the effects on the service sector mainly stem from employment growth, whereas those on the manufacturing sector result from a redistribution of existing employment. The net effect on labor welfare depends on the relative strength of different forces. Keywords: Transport infrastructure; Employment; Disparity; Manufacturing; Services (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:209:y:2026:i:c:s0965856426001552 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2026.105014 Access Statistics for this article Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier |
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