On the Road to Prosperity? The Economic Geography of China’s National Expressway Network

Over the past two decades, China has embarked on an ambitious program of expressway network expansion. By facilitating market integration, this program aims both to promote efficiency at the national level and to contribute to the catch-up of lagging inland regions with prosperous Eastern ones. This paper evaluates the aggregate and spatial economic impacts of China's newly constructed National Expressway Network, focussing, in particular, on its short-run impacts. To achieve this aim, the authors adopt a counterfactual approach based on the estimation and simulation of a structural "new economic geography" model. Overall, they find that aggregate Chinese real income was approximately 6 percent higher than it would have been in 2007 had the expressway network not been built. Although there is considerable heterogeneity in the results, the authors do not find evidence of a significant reduction in disparities across prefectural level regions or of a reduction in urban-rural disparities. If anything, the expressway network appears to have reinforced existing patterns of spatial inequality, although, over time, these will likely be reduced by enhanced migration.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Roberts, Mark, Deichmann, Uwe, Fingleton, Bernard, Shi, Tuo
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	2010-11-01
Subjects:	ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, ACCIDENTS, ACCOUNTING, ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, AIR, ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE, ARBITRAGE, ARTERIES, AUTONOMOUS REGIONS, BILATERAL TRADE, CITY STREETS, CLOSED ECONOMY, COASTAL REGIONS, COMPETITIVENESS, CONGESTION, CONGESTION COSTS, CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE, CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, CONSUMERS, COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS, COST FUNCTIONS, COST OF TRANSPORTATION, COSTS OF TRANSPORTATION, DESIGN SPEED, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, DISPOSABLE INCOME, ECONOMETRICS, ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC STRUCTURE, ECONOMICS LITERATURE, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, EFFICIENCY OF LABOR, ELASTICITIES, ELASTICITY, ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION, EMPLOYMENT, ENDOGENOUS VARIABLES, EQUATIONS, EQUILIBRIUM, ETHNIC MINORITY, EXPORTS, EXPRESSWAYS, EXTERNALITIES, FRAMEWORK, FREIGHT, FREIGHT TRANSPORT, FUNCTIONAL FORMS, FUTURE RESEARCH, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM, GROWTH RATE, HAULAGE, HIGHWAY, HIGHWAY INVESTMENTS, HIGHWAY NETWORK, HIGHWAYS, HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, INCOME GAINS, INCOME LEVELS, INCOME TAX, INCREASING RETURNS, INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, INLAND REGIONS, INTERNATIONAL PORTS, INTERREGIONAL TRANSPORT, INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, INVENTORIES, LABOR EFFICIENCY, LABOR MOBILITY, LAGGING REGIONS, MARGINAL BENEFITS, MARGINAL COSTS, MOBILITY, MOBILITY OF LABOR, MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION, MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA, NET INCOME, NOMINAL INCOME, NOMINAL WAGES, OPPORTUNITY COST, PAVEMENT, PECUNIARY EXTERNALITIES, PER CAPITA INCOME, PERFECT COMPETITION, POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES, PRICE CHANGES, PRICE LEVELS, PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION, PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS, PRODUCTION SIDE, PRODUCTIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, PROFIT MAXIMIZATION, QUALITY OF TRANSPORT, RAIL, RAIL PROJECTS, REAL INCOME, REAL WAGES, REGIONAL DISPARITIES, REGIONAL INPUT, REMOTE AREAS, REMOTE RURAL AREAS, ROAD, ROAD INFORMATION, ROAD INVESTMENTS, ROAD NETWORK, ROAD NETWORKS, ROAD SYSTEM, ROAD TYPE, ROAD TYPES, ROUTE, ROUTES, RURAL AREA, RURAL AREAS, RURAL DISPARITIES, RURAL ECONOMY, RURAL EMPLOYMENT, RURAL HOUSEHOLD, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, RURAL INCOME, RURAL INEQUALITIES, RURAL LABOR, RURAL POPULATION, RURAL PRODUCTION, RURAL SECTOR, RURAL SECTORS, RURAL TRANSPORT, RURAL WAGES, SATURATION, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SPATIAL DISPERSION, SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION, SPATIAL INEQUALITY, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, SUB-REGIONS, TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY, TRAFFIC, TRANSPORT, TRANSPORT COST SAVINGS, TRANSPORT COSTS, TRANSPORT ECONOMICS, TRANSPORT INDUSTRY, TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT INVESTMENT, TRANSPORT INVESTMENTS, TRANSPORT MARKET, TRANSPORT NETWORK, TRANSPORT PROJECTS, TRANSPORT SECTOR, TRANSPORT SPECIALISTS, TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, TRAVEL SPEED, TRAVEL TIME, TRAVEL TIMES, TRUCKING, TRUE, URBAN WORKERS, UTILITY FUNCTIONS, VEHICLE, VEHICLE OPERATING, VEHICLE OPERATING COSTS, WAGE DIFFERENTIALS, WAGE DISPARITIES, WAGE GROWTH, WAGE INCREASES, WAGES,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20101115151238 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3961
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