Traffic infrastructure and dietary quality improvement: Evidence from Chinese expressway

Hao Fan, Jingjing Wang and Qian Xu ()
Additional contact information
Hao Fan: China Agricultural University, Haidian District
Jingjing Wang: China Agricultural University, Haidian District
Qian Xu: China Agricultural University, Haidian District

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 2025, vol. 17, issue 4, No 5, 863-881

Abstract: Abstract This paper examines the impact of expressway development in China on enhancing dietary quality among residents and explores its operating mechanisms. Theoretically, expressway is posited to improve dietary quality by augmenting residents’ income and optimizing local market accessibility. Empirically, we utilize dietary consumption data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey spanning 12 regions from 1997 to 2011 to estimate dietary quality among Chinese residents. Meanwhile, we integrate provincial expressway data to investigate the effect of expressway on dietary quality. Findings indicate that expressway development significantly improves the dietary quality of residents, primarily through increasing income and market accessibility. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the influence of expressway on dietary quality varies across urban and rural areas, different income brackets, and diverse dietary patterns. Expressway has a larger effect on urban, middle-and high-income households, and those with a more balanced diet, compared to rural, low-income households, and individuals with less balanced diets. Specifically, general roads, social insurance, and dietary awareness help to promote dietary improvement effect from expressway among rural, low-income households, and individuals with less balanced diets, respectively. This research contributes novel theoretical insights that facilitate dietary structures transformation among Chinese residents.

Keywords: Traffic infrastructure; Dietary quality; Expressway; Income effect; Market accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 O18 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-025-01559-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:17:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s12571-025-01559-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ulture/journal/12571

DOI: 10.1007/s12571-025-01559-z

Access Statistics for this article

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food is currently edited by R.N. Strange

More articles in Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food from Springer, The International Society for Plant Pathology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().