Speaker: 清华大学 刘冲博士
Host: Gong Qiang , Associate Professor, RIEM
Time: 13:55-15:50, Nov.1, Friday
Venue: H513 Yide Hall, Liulin Campus
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of access to transportation infrastructure on urban-rural income inequality in China over a ten-year period of rapid infrastructure investment. We use county-level data and find strong evidence that better access to transportation infrastructure reduces urban-rural income inequality 12%~14%. To estimate the causal effect, we rely on historical postal routes in the Ming Dynasty as an instrumental variable for current highway access. Moreover, with two micro-level data sets(CHNS and CHIP), we exploit some possible channels through which rural areas benefit from the access to transport infrastructure —rural areas established more village level enterprises, purchased more transportation equipment or farm machinery, had more migration and got more income from non-agricultural business small business.
