IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceps/v99y2025ics0038012125000485.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Faster the Healthier: China's High-Speed Rail Expansion and Mental Health

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Haoran
  • Zhang, Xin
  • Liu, Jingyang
  • Wen, Jing

Abstract

With the rapid pace of urbanization and increasing economic specialization, the mental health of middle-aged and elderly adults is becoming an urgent concern, particularly in the wake of challenges such as rising unemployment and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. While high-speed rail (HSR) networks have played an increasingly significant role in regional economic development, their impact on public health—especially mental health—remains underexplored. The present paper is the first study targeting on mental health of the expansion of HSR network among the particular group, i.e., the middled-aged and elderly adults who are with accumulative wealth and losing health. Leveraging Staggered Difference-in-Differences (DID) and high-dimensional fixed effects (HDFE), this study investigates the cumulative effects of HSR development on individuals’ mental health using micro-panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) for the years 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018. After addressing endogenous issues, our findings suggest that both the introduction and further operation of HSR services positively influence the mental health of this demographic group. These results hold up under a series of robustness checks. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind this improvement include increased mobility for social visits, enhanced regional green technology innovation, and reduced pollution levels. The positive impact is particularly pronounced among individuals who are not yet retired and remains consistent across various residential and domicile settings. This paper offers a novel contribution to the growing body of literature on HSR network expansion and public health, providing critical insights for future transportation and urban planning initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Haoran & Zhang, Xin & Liu, Jingyang & Wen, Jing, 2025. "The Faster the Healthier: China's High-Speed Rail Expansion and Mental Health," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:99:y:2025:i:c:s0038012125000485
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2025.102199
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012125000485
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.seps.2025.102199?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xu, Fei & Li, Qiangyi & Yang, Mian, 2022. "The impacts of high-speed rail on the transformation of resource-based cities in China: A market segmentation perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Brugiavini, Agar & Di Novi, Cinzia & Orso, Cristina Elisa, 2022. "Visiting parents in times of COVID-19: The impact of parent-adult child contacts on the psychological health of the elderly," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    3. Yang, Haoran & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Wang, Jiaoe & Dijst, Martin & Witte, Patrick, 2018. "Comparing China's urban systems in high-speed railway and airline networks," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 233-244.
    4. Liu, Jingyang & Yang, Haoran, 2023. "Income allocation and distribution along with high-speed rail development in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    5. Chen, Yanran & Sun, Ruochen & Chen, Xi & Qin, Xuezheng, 2023. "Does extreme temperature exposure take a toll on mental health? Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(5), pages 486-510, October.
    6. Kong, Qunxi & Li, Rongrong & Jiang, X. & Sun, Peibo & Peng, Dan, 2022. "Has transportation infrastructure development improved the quality of economic growth in China’s cities? A quasi-natural experiment based on the introduction of high-speed rail," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Daron Acemoglu & Joshua D. Angrist, 2001. "Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(5), pages 915-957, October.
    8. Li, Hongchang & Wang, Kun & Yu, Kemei & Zhang, Anming, 2020. "Are conventional train passengers underserved after entry of high-speed rail?-Evidence from Chinese intercity markets," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 1-9.
    9. Bloom, Joan R., 1990. "The relationship of social support and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 635-637, January.
    10. Endo, Hideaki & Goto, Mika, 2024. "The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the management of private railway companies in Japan: Profitability and business model analyses," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 32-49.
    11. Feng, Qiyun & Chen, Zhenhua & Cheng, Chuanchao & Chang, Haiqing, 2023. "Impact of high-speed rail on high-skilled labor mobility in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 64-74.
    12. Chen, Fanglin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2023. "High-speed rail and happiness," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. Federico Cavallaro & Silvio Nocera, 2024. "COVID-19 effects on transport-related air pollutants: insights, evaluations, and policy perspectives," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 484-517, March.
    14. Yang, Haoran & Du, Delin & Wang, Jiaoe & Wang, Xiaomeng & Zhang, Fan, 2023. "Reshaping China's urban networks and their determinants: High-speed rail vs. air networks," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 83-92.
    15. Haoran Yang & Frédéric Dobruszkes & Jiaoe Wang & Martin Dijst & Patrick Wiik, 2018. "Comparing China's urban systems in high-speed railway and airline networks," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/269363, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Gao, Yanyan & Zheng, Jianghuai & Wang, Xin, 2022. "Does high-speed rail reduce environmental pollution? Establishment-level evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    17. Yan, Zhimin & Park, Sung Y., 2023. "Does high-speed rail reduce local CO2 emissions in China? A counterfactual approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    18. Chen, Fanglin & Hao, Xinyue & Chen, Zhongfei, 2021. "Can high-speed rail improve health and alleviate health inequality? Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 266-279.
    19. Miwa, Norihiro & Bhatt, Ayushman & Morikawa, So & Kato, Hironori, 2022. "High-Speed rail and the knowledge economy: Evidence from Japan," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 398-416.
    20. Dong, Xiaofang & Zheng, Siqi & Kahn, Matthew E., 2020. "The role of transportation speed in facilitating high skilled teamwork across cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    21. Francesca PAGLIARA & Luigi BIGGIERO & Alessia PATRONE & Francesco PERUGGINI, 2016. "An Analysis Of Spatial Equity Concerning Investments In High-Speed Rail Systems: The Case Study Of Italy," Transport Problems, Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Transport, vol. 11(3), pages 55-68, September.
    22. Kim, Pyoungsik & Kim, Dongyoung, 2025. "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health management: Evidence from individual-level universal insurance claims data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    23. Li, Yao & Li, Lei & Liu, Junxia, 2023. "The efficient moral hazard effect of health insurance: Evidence from the consolidation of urban and rural resident health insurance in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    24. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    25. Li, Hui & Dong, Xiucheng & Jiang, Qingzhe & Dong, Kangyin, 2021. "Policy analysis for high-speed rail in China: Evolution, evaluation, and expectation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 37-53.
    26. Su, Weijian & Xie, Chengxuan, 2023. "High-speed rail, technological improvement, and PM2.5: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1349-1362.
    27. Nathalie Van Nuffel & Piet Saey & Ben Derudder & Lomme Devriendt & Frank Witlox, 2010. "Measuring hierarchical differentiation: connectivity and dominance in the European urban network," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 343-366, May.
    28. Yang, Zhiwei & Li, Can & Jiao, Jingjuan & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Fangni, 2020. "On the joint impact of high-speed rail and megalopolis policy on regional economic growth in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 20-30.
    29. Sun, Xinyu & Yan, Sen & Liu, Tao & Wang, Jiayin, 2023. "The impact of high-speed rail on urban economy: Synergy with urban agglomeration policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 141-154.
    30. Daron Acemoglu & Leopoldo Fergusson & Simon Johnson, 2020. "Population and Conflict," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(4), pages 1565-1604.
    31. Yuan, Zhiyi & Dong, Changgui & Ou, Xunmin, 2023. "The substitution effect of high-speed rail on civil aviation in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).
    32. Yiwen Shangguan & Wenshuo Guo, 2022. "Is FDI a high-quality investment? evidence from the changes in the Chinese FDI after HSR opening," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(60), pages 6863-6874, December.
    33. Federico Cavallaro & Francesco Bruzzone & Silvio Nocera, 2023. "Effects of high-speed rail on regional accessibility," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(5), pages 1685-1721, October.
    34. Li, Guangqin & Pu, Kangyun & Long, Minghui, 2023. "High-speed rail connectivity, space-time distance compression, and trans-regional tourism flows: Evidence from China's inbound tourism," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    35. Givoni, Moshe & Banister, David, 2012. "Speed: the less important element of the High-Speed Train," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 306-307.
    36. Shuai Chen & Paulina Oliva & Peng Zhang, 2024. "Air Pollution and Mental Health: Evidence from China," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 114, pages 423-428, May.
    37. Ren, Xiaohong & Chen, Zhenhua & Wang, Fang & Dan, Ting & Wang, Wei & Guo, Xiaotong & Liu, Chunhua, 2020. "Impact of high-speed rail on social equity in China: Evidence from a mode choice survey," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 422-441.
    38. Chenjing Fan & Wei Ouyang & Li Tian & Yan Song & Wensheng Miao, 2019. "Elderly Health Inequality in China and its Determinants: A Geographical Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    39. Wang, Feng & Wei, Xianjin & Liu, Juan & He, Lingyun & Gao, Mengnan, 2019. "Impact of high-speed rail on population mobility and urbanisation: A case study on Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 99-114.
    40. Du, Kerui & Li, Pengzhen & Yan, Zheming, 2019. "Do green technology innovations contribute to carbon dioxide emission reduction? Empirical evidence from patent data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 297-303.
    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. Zhang, Qilin & Liu, Xiaoying & Jiao, Jingjuan, 2025. "Where to migrate? The role of high-speed rail in migrant workers’ employment location decision in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 65-86.
    2. Yuan, Hang & Feng, Wei, 2025. "Tracks to tech equity: How high-speed rail bridges the digital divide within cities? Prefecture-level evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Jiao, Jingjuan & Zhang, Qilin & Jiang, Runze & Lyu, Guowei, 2025. "Does high-speed rail contribute to cross-boundary agglomeration of migrant workers? Evidence from China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    4. Wang, Ke-Liang & Jiang, Wei & Miao, Zhuang, 2023. "Impact of high-speed railway on urban resilience in China: Does urban innovation matter?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    5. Cheng, Qi & Yang, Jun, 2024. "High-speed rail, resource allocation and haze pollution in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 124-139.
    6. Chen, Yu & Zhao, Changyi & Chen, Shan & Chen, Wenqing & Wan, Kunyang & Wei, Jia, 2023. "Riding the green rails: Exploring the nexus between high-speed trains, green innovation, and carbon emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    7. Zhu, Ruoyu & Tan, Kehu & Xin, Xiaohui, 2024. "Does the opening of high-speed rail inhibit corporate zombification?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 372-389.
    8. Jiang, Wei & Jiang, Nana & Wang, Ke-Liang, 2025. "The local effects and neighborhood effects of high-speed railway on urban entrepreneurial vitality: Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Lan, Xiujuan & Hu, Zheneng & Wen, Chuanhao, 2023. "Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Huang, Yan & Zong, Huiming, 2022. "The intercity railway connections in China: A comparative analysis of high-speed train and conventional train services," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 89-103.
    11. Zheng, Longfei & Wu, Shuping, 2024. "Remote high-speed rail stations, urban land supply, and the emergence of new economic activities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    12. Yan, Sen & Sun, Xinyu & Zhang, Yurong, 2024. "High-speed railway ripples on the greenness: Insight from urban green vegetation cover," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Shi, Dehao & Wang, Lei & Zhang, Xianchun & Yu, Tao, 2025. "Borrowed size and borrowed administrative power: Effects of high-speed rail network on industrial upgrading and variegated externalities in the Yangtze River Delta, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. Zhu, Ruoyu & Tan, Kehu & Xin, Xiaohui, 2024. "Speed up for sustainable development: High-speed rail and corporate ESG performance," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Chen, Fanglin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2023. "High-speed rail and happiness," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    16. Cheng, Junmei & Chen, Zhenhua, 2021. "Impact of high-speed rail on the operational capacity of conventional rail in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 354-367.
    17. Yanan Jin & Guoli Ou, 2023. "The Impacts of High-Speed Rail on Producer Service Industry Agglomeration: Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Zhang, Shushan & Gu, Cheng & Zhang, Peiwen, 2025. "Alleviating dependence: High-speed rail opening and firms' supply chain dependence," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 116-129.
    19. Wang, Yang & Yang, Lu & Shen, Chen, 2025. "Wheels of progress: How high-speed railway is shaping human well-being in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 40-53.
    20. Huang, Yan & Zong, Huiming, 2020. "The spatial distribution and determinants of China’s high-speed train services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-70.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:soceps:v:99:y:2025:i:c:s0038012125000485. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/seps .

    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.