Roads to development? Urbanization without growth in Zambia

Cong Peng, Yao Wang and Wenfan Chen

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This study explores the impacts of road improvements in a country characterized by "urbanization without growth". Our analysis reveals that, although road upgrades increase population growth, they do not significantly advance economic development and tend to worsen living conditions. Utilizing a combination of empirical evidence and a spatial equilibrium model, we identify that constrained industrial capacities and congestion from high population density limit the efficacy of road development policies in enhancing GDP and overall welfare. Our results also indicate that strategically targeting road placement in regions with higher economic productivity could yield better economic outcomes.

Keywords: road improvements; urbanization; industrialization; quantitative spatial model; satellite imagery; africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O1 R1 R4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 64 pages
Date: 2024-12-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-tre
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:126771

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