Work

The Average and Heterogeneous Effects of Transportation Investments: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa 1960-2010

Year: 2020

Type: report

Abstract: Previous work on transportation investments has focused on average impacts in high-and middleincome countries.We estimate average and heterogeneous effects in a poor continent, Africa, using roads and cities data spanning 50 years in 39 countries.Using changes in market access due to distant road construction as a source of exogenous variation, we estimate a 30-year elasticity of city population with respect to market access of about 0.08-0.13.Our results suggest that this elasticity is stronger for small and remote cities, and weaker in politically favored and agriculturally suitable areas.Access to foreign cities besides international ports matters little.Additional evidence points suggestively to rural-urban migration as the primary source of this population increase, though we cannot fully rule out natural increase or reallocation across cities.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w27670

Authors: Remi Jedwab, Adam Storeygard

Institutions: Tufts University, National Bureau of Economic Research, George Washington University

Language: English

Topic: Agglomeration and Urban Systems

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: World Bank Group, Department for International Development

OpenAlex ID: W2807170002

Cites: 78

Cited by: 52

Related to: 10