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

This paper documents the effect of road construction on city population growth through the channel of increasing market access

From:
Department for International Development
Published
1 October 2015
Document Type:
Working Paper
Theme:
Economic Growth, Infrastructure
Authors:
Jedwab, Remi, Storeygard, Adam

Abstract

This paper documents the effect of road construction on city population growth in sub-Saharan Africa from 1960-2010 through the channel of increasing market access. Using changes in market access due to foreign or otherwise distant road construction as a source of exogenous variation in overall market access, the study estimates a 30-year elasticity of city population with respect to market access of 0.05 to 0.20, larger than OLS estimates of 0.02–0.05, but somewhat smaller than estimates for other contexts. The effect is concentrated 10–30 years after road construction, closer to coasts and borders, and farther from a country’s largest cities.

Citation

Rémi Jedwab and Adam Storeygard ( 2015) The Heterogeneous Effects of Transportation Investments: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa 1960-2010

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

Published 1 October 2015
Contents