IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ecopln/v55y2022i4d10.1007_s10644-021-09381-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal policy and the development of green transportation infrastructure: the case of China's high-speed railways

Author

Listed:
  • Zoey Wong

    (Nanjing University)

  • Afei Chen

    (Nanjing University of Finance & Economics)

  • Chenrong Shen

    (Nanjing University of Finance & Economics)

  • Dailong Wu

    (Nanjing Normal University)

Abstract

High-speed rail (HSR) has been highly valued as an accelerator of green economic growth. However, the difficulty in financing caused by the high investment demand and long construction cycle of high-speed rail is an ongoing dilemma facing the high-speed rail industry. Using data from Chinese cities from 2003 to 2018, this paper explores whether fiscal policy is conducive to solving financing problems for high-speed railway construction. At the same time, this paper investigates the economic and environmental benefits of high-speed rail construction investment for urban development. We find that fiscal policy helps reduce the financing cost of high-speed railway construction projects and attracts social capital, spurring investment in high-speed rail construction. When economic policy uncertainty rises, companies will choose more secure, "safe" investments to avoid potential risks, such as government-led high-speed rail construction projects, which has led to their further expansion. Regarding its economic effect, high-speed rail construction investment directly promotes urban productivity, investment scale, and industrial structure upgrades. Over the long term, investment in HSR construction helps curb urban pollutant emissions, thus contributing to urban eco-efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Zoey Wong & Afei Chen & Chenrong Shen & Dailong Wu, 2022. "Fiscal policy and the development of green transportation infrastructure: the case of China's high-speed railways," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 2179-2213, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:55:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10644-021-09381-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-021-09381-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10644-021-09381-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10644-021-09381-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman & V. Joseph Hotz, 1986. "An Investigation of the Labor Market Earnings of Panamanian Males Evaluating the Sources of Inequality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 21(4), pages 507-542.
    2. Zhang, Dongyang & Du, Pengcheng & Chen, Yaowen, 2019. "Can designed financial systems drive out highly polluting firms? An evaluation of an experimental economic policy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    3. Zhang, Dongyang & Guo, Yumei, 2019. "Financing R&D in Chinese private firms: Business associations or political connection?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 247-261.
    4. Puhani, Patrick A., 2000. "On the identification of relative wage rigidity dynamics: a proposal for a methodology on cross-section data and empirical evidence for Poland in transition," ZEW Discussion Papers 00-56, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Patrick A. Puhani, 2000. "On the Identification of Relative Wage Rigidity Dynamics," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 343, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    6. Gabriel M Ahlfeldt & Arne Feddersen, 2018. "From periphery to core: measuring agglomeration effects using high-speed rail," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 355-390.
    7. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    8. Cheng, Hua & Wang, Ziqi & Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi, 2020. "Firm’s outward foreign direct investment and efficiency loss of factor price distortion: Evidence from Chinese firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 176-188.
    9. Card, David, 1990. "Unexpected Inflation, Real Wages, and Employment Determination in Union Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(4), pages 669-688, September.
    10. Jia, Shanming & Zhou, Chunyu & Qin, Chenglin, 2017. "No difference in effect of high-speed rail on regional economic growth based on match effect perspective?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 144-157.
    11. Wong, Zoey & Li, Rongrong & Zhang, Yidie & Kong, Qunxi & Cai, Molly, 2021. "Financial services, spatial agglomeration, and the quality of urban economic growth–based on an empirical analysis of 268 cities in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    12. Chester, Mikhail V. & Ryerson, Megan S., 2014. "Grand challenges for high-speed rail environmental assessment in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 15-26.
    13. Heckman, James J & Sedlacek, Guilherme, 1985. "Heterogeneity, Aggregation, and Market Wage Functions: An Empirical Model of Self-selection in the Labor Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1077-1125, December.
    14. Wu, Jianhong & Nash, Chris & Wang, Dong, 2014. "Is high speed rail an appropriate solution to China’s rail capacity problems?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 100-111.
    15. Michael Fritsch & Viktor Slavtchev, 2011. "Determinants of the Efficiency of Regional Innovation Systems," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 905-918.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Monika Roman, 2022. "Sustainable Transport: A State-of-the-Art Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Fang, Shuya & Fang, Wei, 2023. "How fiscal decentralization and trade diversification influence sustainable development: Moderating role of resources dependency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Wei Yu & Huiqin Huang & Keying Zhu, 2023. "Enhancing Construction Enterprise Financial Performance through Digital Inclusive Finance: An Insight into Supply Chain Finance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kong, Qunxi & Shen, Chenrong & Chen, Afei & Peng, Dan & Wong, Zoey, 2021. "How demand scale affect services exports? Evidence from financial development perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Kong, Qunxi & Shen, Chenrong & Li, Rongrong & Wong, Zoey, 2021. "High-speed railway opening and urban green productivity in the post-COVID-19: Evidence from green finance," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    3. Wong, Zoey & Chen, Afei & Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Does technology-seeking OFDI improve the productivity of Chinese firms under the COVID-19 pandemic?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Zhang, Dongyang & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Do energy policies bring about corporate overinvestment? Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    5. Kong, Qunxi & Shen, Chenrong & Sun, Wei & Shao, Wei, 2021. "KIBS Import Technological Complexity and Manufacturing Value Chain Upgrading from a Financial Constraint Perspective," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    6. Zoey Wong & Afei Chen & Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary & Rongrong Li & Qunxi Kong, 2023. "Financing Constraints and Firm’s Productivity Under the COVID-19 Epidemic Shock: Evidence of A-Shared Chinese Companies," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(1), pages 167-195, February.
    7. Kong, Qunxi & Tong, Xin & Peng, Dan & Wong, Zoey & Chen, Huy, 2021. "How factor market distortions affect OFDI: An explanation based on investment propensity and productivity effects," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 459-472.
    8. Zhang, Dongyang & Kong, Qunxi, 2021. "How does energy policy affect firms' outward foreign direct investment: An explanation based on investment motivation and firms' performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    9. Kong, Qunxi & Chen, Afei & Shen, Chenrong & Wong, Zoey, 2021. "Has the Belt and Road Initiative improved the quality of economic growth in China's cities?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 870-883.
    10. Kong, Qunxi & Li, Rongrong & Peng, Dan & Wong, Zoey, 2021. "High-technology development zones and innovation in knowledge-intensive service firms: Evidence from Chinese A-share listed firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Fan, Xiaomin & Xu, Yingzhi, 2023. "Does high-speed railway promote urban innovation? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. Puhani, Patrick A., 2001. "Wage rigidities in Western Germany? Microeconometric evidence from the 1990s," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-36, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Di Matteo, Dante & Mariotti, Ilaria & Rossi, Federica, 2023. "Transport infrastructure and economic performance: An evaluation of the Milan-Bologna high-speed rail corridor," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    14. (Ato) Xu, Wangtu & Zhou, Jiangping & Yang, Linchuan & Li, Ling, 2018. "The implications of high-speed rail for Chinese cities: Connectivity and accessibility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 308-326.
    15. 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.
    16. Bakari, Sayef & El Weriemmi, Malek & Mabrouki, Mohamed, 2022. "The Impact of Digitalization and Trade Openness on Economic Growth: New Evidence from Richest Asian Countries," MPRA Paper 113816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Basch, Michael & Paredes-Molina, Ricardo D., 1996. "Are there dual labor markets in Chile?: empirical evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 297-312, August.
    18. Gerard Hughes & Brian Nolan, 1996. "Segmented Labour Markets and Earnings in Ireland," Papers WP075, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    19. Shujie Yao & Jing Fang & Hongbo He, 2020. "Can Time–Space Compression Promote Urban Economic Growth? Evidence from China's High‐speed Rail Projects," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 28(5), pages 90-117, September.
    20. Wong, Zoey & Li, Rongrong & Zhang, Yidie & Kong, Qunxi & Cai, Molly, 2021. "Financial services, spatial agglomeration, and the quality of urban economic growth–based on an empirical analysis of 268 cities in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:55:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10644-021-09381-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.