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Rural Roads and Local Economic Development

Sam Asher, Paul NovosadEconomics劳动经济学FT50
American Economic Review2020-02-28Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; Johns Hopkins University; Dartmouth College; Dartmouth HospitalDOI
Citations518
Influential38
References87
Semantic Scholar

Nearly one billion people worldwide live in rural areas without access to national paved road networks. We estimate the impacts of India’s $40 billion national rural road construction program using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and comprehensive household and firm census microdata. Four years after road construction, the main effect of new feeder roads is to facilitate the movement of workers out of agriculture. However, there are no major changes in agricultural outcomes, income, or assets. Employment in village firms expands only slightly. Even with better market connections, remote areas may continue to lack economic opportunities. (JEL J43, O13, O18, R23, R42)

Microdata (statistics)CensusRegression discontinuity designEconomicsAgricultureRural areaAgricultural economicsEconomic growthBusinessGeographyRegional sciencePopulation