This paper studies the causal effect of transport infrastructure on the spatial distribution of economic activity within subnational regions across a large number of developing countries. To do so, we introduce a new global dataset of geolocated Chinese grant- and loan-financed development projects from 2000 to 2014 and combine it with measures of spatial concentration based on remotely sensed data. We find that Chinese-financed transportation projects decentralize economic activity within regions, as measured by a spatial Gini coefficient, by 2.2 percentage points. The treatment effects are particularly strong in regions that are less developed, more urbanized, and located closer to cities.
%0 Journal Article
%1 bluhm_et_al_2025
%A Bluhm, Richard
%A Dreher, Axel
%A Fuchs, Andreas
%A Parks, Bradley C.
%A Strange, Austin M.
%A Tierney, Michael J.
%D 2025
%I Elsevier BV
%J Journal of Urban Economics
%K China cities development infrastructure myown
%P 103730
%R 10.1016/j.jue.2024.103730
%T Connective financing: Chinese infrastructure projects and the diffusion of economic activity in developing countries
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2024.103730
%V 145
%X This paper studies the causal effect of transport infrastructure on the spatial distribution of economic activity within subnational regions across a large number of developing countries. To do so, we introduce a new global dataset of geolocated Chinese grant- and loan-financed development projects from 2000 to 2014 and combine it with measures of spatial concentration based on remotely sensed data. We find that Chinese-financed transportation projects decentralize economic activity within regions, as measured by a spatial Gini coefficient, by 2.2 percentage points. The treatment effects are particularly strong in regions that are less developed, more urbanized, and located closer to cities.
@article{bluhm_et_al_2025,
abstract = {This paper studies the causal effect of transport infrastructure on the spatial distribution of economic activity within subnational regions across a large number of developing countries. To do so, we introduce a new global dataset of geolocated Chinese grant- and loan-financed development projects from 2000 to 2014 and combine it with measures of spatial concentration based on remotely sensed data. We find that Chinese-financed transportation projects decentralize economic activity within regions, as measured by a spatial Gini coefficient, by 2.2 percentage points. The treatment effects are particularly strong in regions that are less developed, more urbanized, and located closer to cities.},
added-at = {2025-05-07T10:42:54.000+0200},
author = {Bluhm, Richard and Dreher, Axel and Fuchs, Andreas and Parks, Bradley C. and Strange, Austin M. and Tierney, Michael J.},
biburl = {https://puma.ub.uni-stuttgart.de/bibtex/2451ec5e3d582c3eb84d41ef87b588dee/richardbluhm},
doi = {10.1016/j.jue.2024.103730},
interhash = {5c24270666dbda09d3e43371036a2ebb},
intrahash = {451ec5e3d582c3eb84d41ef87b588dee},
issn = {0094-1190},
journal = {Journal of Urban Economics},
keywords = {China cities development infrastructure myown},
month = jan,
pages = 103730,
publisher = {Elsevier BV},
timestamp = {2025-05-07T10:46:02.000+0200},
title = {Connective financing: Chinese infrastructure projects and the diffusion of economic activity in developing countries},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2024.103730},
volume = 145,
year = 2025
}
