Regional development through place-based policies: Evidence from a spatial discontinuity

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shenoy, Ajay
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Santa Cruz
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.10.001
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 173-189
• 关键词: Place-based policy; Development; infrastructure; Tax incentives

摘要

In 2002 the Indian government targeted the new state of Uttarakhand with massive improvements in infrastructure, a generous investment subsidy, and a complete exemption from corporate and excise taxes. I estimate the causal effect of this policy on economic development by exploiting the spatial discontinuity created by the new state border. Nighttime light emissions rise sharply in the targeted state, implying a 28 percent increase in output. Village public goods, farm employment, and proxies for household welfare rise in tandem. I rule out that the effect is driven by decentralization of policy, improvements in business regulations, or differential trends at the border.