transportation作文 [Transportation,Infrastructure,Quality,Effect,on,Economic,Growth:Evidence,from,the,China,Railway,Speed-Up,Campaigns]

　　Abstract: Beginning in 1997, China implemented a six-round campaign to accelerate train service, known as the “China Railway Speed-Up Campaign”, which greatly increased railway capacity and improved the quality of rail facilities. This can be seen as a natural experiment of the effects of improving the quality of transportation infrastructure. Using the Beijing-Guangzhou Line and the Beijing-Shanghai Line as examples, this paper creates city-level panel data for stations along accelerated lines and traditional stations for the years between 1994 and 2006 and systematically examines the campaign’s effect on economic growth using difference-in-difference (DID) methodology. Our research concludes that railway acceleration has promoted economic growth in cities with stations on upgraded rail lines. Over the entire period of the speed-up campaign, the per capita GDP growth rate has risen by 3.7 percentage points in cities with upgraded stations versus cities with traditional stations. Moreover, positive effects on economic growth have been found to increase in later stages of railway upgrades.
　　Key words: economic growth, railway acceleration, difference-in-difference (DID) methodology
　　JEL Classifications: O22, O47
　　1. Foreword
　　According to economic growth theory, infrastructure is one of the key drivers of economic development. “…the quantity of investment cannot be the exclusive focus of policy. Improving the quality of infrastructure service also is vital” (World Bank, 1994). In describing the history of economic development, the World Bank development report noted that “infrastructure represents, if not the engine, then the ’wheels’ of economic activity” (World Bank, 2006). The underlying logic of economics is straightforward: access to the market is the precondition for sharing in the benefits of the market, while infrastructure—such as public facilities, transportation, and communications – are the building blocks of market connections. The favorable effects of infrastructure on economic growth derive primarily from the following three areas: 1) reduced transaction cost, increased economies of scale, and promotion of market integration; 2) greater flow of factors and employment opportunities; and 3) rapid knowledge spillover for the enhancement of human capital.
　　During China’s rapid and sustained economic growth over the past 30 years, the construction of railways, highways, and other infrastructure has been an important means for the government to stimulate economic growth and balance regional development. Economic growth driven by massive infrastructure construction, in fact, can be viewed as a microcosm of China’s investment-driven growth pattern over the past three decades. Numerous studies on the effects of transportation facilities on economic growth have already been carried out. As early as the mid 20th century, Fogel (1962) analyzed the effect of railways on the economic growth of the United States. Led by the classic economic research of Aschauer (1989), Femald (1999) and Fan et al. (2002) examined the effect of highways on productivity and on economic growth in developed and developing countries. More recently, Atack et al. (2009) and Donaldson (2010) have examined the effect of railways on urbanization and economic growth in the United States and India.