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Transportation infrastructure and entrepreneurship: Evidence from high-speed railway in China

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  • Ma, Liya
  • Niu, Dongxiao
  • Sun, Weizeng

Abstract

Using high-speed railway (HSR) construction in China as a quasi-experiment, this paper contributes to the understanding of how transportation infrastructure affects entrepreneurship. On the basis of a difference-in-difference approach, we find that access to an HSR connection leads to an increase in entrepreneurship by approximately 3.5 percentage points (35% of the mean). Mechanism exploration suggests that market potential is the main channel that HSR encourages entrepreneurial activities, which is realized by accelerated information sharing and face-to-face interactions. And the effect is bigger for high-educated families, wealthy families and in large cities.

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  • Ma, Liya & Niu, Dongxiao & Sun, Weizeng, 2021. "Transportation infrastructure and entrepreneurship: Evidence from high-speed railway in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:65:y:2021:i:c:s1043951x20301747
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2020.101577
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