IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2020-137.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The social profitability of rural roads in a small open economy: Do urban agglomeration economies matter?

Author

Abstract

In the presence of agglomeration economies, the effects of a rural roads programme depend not only on the reduction in transportation costs, but also on the form of labour mobility. When financed by a poll tax on rural households, the wage will rise, accompanied by some return migration, provided both cross-price effects in production and consumption and agglomeration economies are sufficiently small. With empirically plausible elasticities of agglomeration economies, urban households may be worse off.

Suggested Citation

  • Clive Bell, 2020. "The social profitability of rural roads in a small open economy: Do urban agglomeration economies matter?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-137, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-137
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2020-137.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shenggen Fan & Peter Hazell & Sukhadeo Thorat, 2000. "Government Spending, Growth and Poverty in Rural India," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(4), pages 1038-1051.
    2. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    3. David Stifel & Bart Minten & Bethlehem Koru, 2016. "Economic Benefits of Rural Feeder Roads: Evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(9), pages 1335-1356, September.
    4. Shahidur R. Khandker & Zaid Bakht & Gayatri B. Koolwal, 2009. "The Poverty Impact of Rural Roads: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 685-722, July.
    5. Jacoby, Hanan G. & Minten, Bart, 2009. "On measuring the benefits of lower transport costs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 28-38, May.
    6. World Bank, 2009. "Geography in Motion: World Development Report 2009 (excerpt)," Transnational Corporations Review, Ottawa United Learning Academy, vol. 1(3), pages 40-46, September.
    7. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David Weil, 1990. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," Working Papers 1990-24, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    8. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 171-245, Elsevier.
    9. Sam Asher & Paul Novosad, 2020. "Rural Roads and Local Economic Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 797-823, March.
    10. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    11. Aggarwal, Shilpa, 2018. "Do rural roads create pathways out of poverty? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 375-395.
    12. Vernon Henderson, 2002. "Urbanization in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 17(1), pages 89-112.
    13. Escobal D'Angelo, Javier & Ponce, Carmen, 2002. "The benefits of rural roads: enhancing income opportunities for the rural poor," Working Papers 37751, Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE).
    14. Shin Takada & So Morikawa & Rika Idei & Hironori Kato, 2021. "Impacts of improvements in rural roads on household income through the enhancement of market accessibility in rural areas of Cambodia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2857-2881, October.
    15. Peter Warr, 2010. "Roads And Poverty In Rural Laos: An Econometric Analysis," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 152-169, February.
    16. Jacoby, Hanan C, 2000. "Access to Markets and the Benefits of Rural Roads," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(465), pages 713-737, July.
    17. Srivastava, S.K. & Chand, Ramesh & Singh, Jaspal, 2017. "Changing Crop Production Cost in India: Input Prices, Substitution and Technological Effects," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 30(Conferenc).
    18. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bell, Clive, 2023. "Rural Roads and National Welfare: Are 'Local' Methods of Evaluation Satisfactory?," Working Papers 0740, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    2. Elodie Djemai & Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio, 2020. "Take the Highway? Paved Roads and Well-Being in Africa," Working Papers DT/2020/11, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    3. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    4. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2019. "Connecting Disadvantaged Communities to Work and Higher Education Opportunities: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 12824, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Paul Gertler & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro & Tadeja Gracner & Alexander D. Rothenberg, 2022. "Road Maintenance and Local Economic Development: Evidence from Indonesia’s Highways," NBER Working Papers 30454, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Anti, Sebastian & Zhang, Zhihui, 2023. "Roads, women’s employment, and gender equity: Evidence from Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Gertler, Paul J & Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Gracner, Tadeja & Rothenberg, Alexander, 2023. "Road Maintenance and Local Economic Development," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt38m633q0, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    8. Krishnan, Pramila & Zhang, Peng, 2020. "Restricting trade and reducing variety: Evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Shin Takada & So Morikawa & Rika Idei & Hironori Kato, 2021. "Impacts of improvements in rural roads on household income through the enhancement of market accessibility in rural areas of Cambodia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2857-2881, October.
    10. Qin, Yu & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2016. "The Road to Specialization in Agricultural Production: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-16.
    11. Gebresilasse, Mesay, 2023. "Rural roads, agricultural extension, and productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    12. Stefan Dercon & Daniel O. Gilligan & John Hoddinott & Tassew Woldehanna, 2009. "The Impact of Agricultural Extension and Roads on Poverty and Consumption Growth in Fifteen Ethiopian Villages," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1007-1021.
    13. Aamer Abu‐Qarn & Shirlee Lichtman‐Sadot, 2022. "The Trade‐Off Between Work and Education: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 193-225, January.
    14. Clive Bell, 2018. "Rural roads and urban agglomeration economies: Benefits for town and country?," WIDER Working Paper Series 73, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Chanda, Areendam & Kabiraj, Sujana, 2020. "Shedding light on regional growth and convergence in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    16. Clive Bell, 2018. "Rural roads and urban agglomeration economies: Benefits for town and country?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-73, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. María Adelaida Ortega, 2018. "Conectando mercados: vías rurales y producción agrícola en el contexto de una economía dual," Documentos CEDE 16818, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    18. Julio Aguirre & Elmer Guerrero & Yohnny Campana, 2021. "How effective are protected natural areas when roads are present? An analysis of the Peruvian case," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(4), pages 831-859, October.
    19. Shamdasani, Yogita, 2021. "Rural road infrastructure & agricultural production: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    20. Fujita, Yasuo, 2017. "Does a Rural Road Improvement Project Contribute to Inclusive Growth??A Case Study from Bangladesh," Working Papers 138, JICA Research Institute.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rural roads; Profitability; Transportation; Agglomeration;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-137. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    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.