The Effects of Roads on Trade and Migration: Evidence from a Planned Capital City

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Morten, Melanie; Oliveira, Jaqueline
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20180487
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 389-421
• 关键词: internal migration; highway; LIBERALIZATION; PRODUCTIVITY; determinants; TECHNOLOGY; location; shocks; IMPACT; COSTS

摘要

A large body of literature studies how infrastructure facilitates trade. We ask whether infrastructure also facilitates migration. Using a general equilibrium trade model and rich spatial data, we study the impact of a large, plausibly exogenous shock to highways in Brazil on both goods and labor markets. We find the highway system increased welfare by 2.8 percent, of which 76 percent was due to reduced trade costs and 24 percent to reduced migration costs. An implication of costly migration is spatial heterogeneity in benefits: the range of welfare improvement is 1 to 15 percent, as opposed to uniform gains with perfect mobility. ( JEL H54, H76, O18, R23, R42, R53 )