High-speed railway to success? The effects of high-speed rail connection on regional economic development in China

摘要

We find that high-speed railway connection in China has led to a reduction in GDP per capita for connected peripheral prefectures. We use the least-cost path-spanning tree network to address the nonrandom route placement issue. We find that the reduction of GDP per capita is driven by significant contractions in capital input, industrial output, and skilled labor outflow. We present evidence to support a trade-based channel in light of falling transportation costs between peripheral and metropolitan regions. Our finding highlights the importance of the cost of human transport.