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Do high-speed railways lead to urban economic growth in China? A panel data study of China’s cities

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  • Li, Hongchang
  • Strauss, Jack
  • Shunxiang, Hu
  • Lui, Lu

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of high-speed railroads (HSR) on the economic activity of 200 Chinese cities using a new dataset from 2007 to 2014. We construct a measure of a city’s accessibility, which is measured by weighted travel time, and then apply panel Granger Causality methods to determine whether an increase in accessibility contributes to future economic growth in China. Or does causality run the opposite way – does rising economic growth boost HSR? Results document that boosts in accessibility lead to significant and relatively large increases in city-level economic growth; further, out-of-sample methods document the importance of increases in HSR in forecasting city-level GDP growth. We also compare the benefits to the costs, and find that benefits of HSR in terms of boosting Chinese GDP substantially out-weigh HSR’s large fixed costs, depreciation and subsidies.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Hongchang & Strauss, Jack & Shunxiang, Hu & Lui, Lu, 2018. "Do high-speed railways lead to urban economic growth in China? A panel data study of China’s cities," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 70-89.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:69:y:2018:i:c:p:70-89
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2018.04.002
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    7. Cascetta, Ennio & Cartenì, Armando & Henke, Ilaria & Pagliara, Francesca, 2020. "Economic growth, transport accessibility and regional equity impacts of high-speed railways in Italy: ten years ex post evaluation and future perspectives," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 412-428.
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    14. Hongchang Li & Jack Strauss & Lihong Liu, 2019. "A Panel Investigation of High-Speed Rail (HSR) and Urban Transport on China’s Carbon Footprint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-24, April.
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    16. Liansheng Zheng & Juncheng Li & Zhihua Zhao, 2022. "High‐Speed Rail Service and the Issuance of Municipal Corporate Bonds," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 230-254, July.
    17. Jin, Mengjie & Lin, Kun-Chin & Shi, Wenming & Lee, Paul T.W. & Li, Kevin X., 2020. "Impacts of high-speed railways on economic growth and disparity in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 158-171.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    China infrastructure; High-speed railroads; Granger causality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation

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