High-speed railroads and local agricultural development

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chen, Xiaoguang; Gong, Binlei; Qin, Zhilong; Wang, Xiaoli
• 署名单位: Southwestern University of Finance & Economics - China; Zhejiang University; Zhejiang University; Southwestern University of Finance & Economics - China
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103647
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: Transport infrastructure; High-speed railroads; Agricultural development; PRODUCTIVITY

摘要

We estimate the impacts of China's extensive high-speed railroads (HSR) expansions using both county-level and household-level agricultural data. Our estimates indicate that HSR expansions: (i) facilitated the outflow of labor from agriculture and reduced cropland in connected rural areas, particularly in underdeveloped regions; (ii) increased agricultural total factor productivity (TFP), effectively offsetting the negative impacts on agricultural output from reduced inputs; (iii) significantly boosted local GDP and government revenue, providing financial support for agriculture and critical investments in agricultural infrastructure and rural roads; (iv) facilitated farmers' access to technical training and encouraged the entry of new agribusiness firms; and (v) increased farmers' revenues and profits, strengthening their economic incentives for production and collectively improving agricultural TFP.