Replication data and code for: Rural Roads and Local Economic Development

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Sam Asher, World Bank and Johns Hopkins SAIS; Paul Novosad, Dartmouth College

Version: View help for Version V2

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
code			06/24/2020 02:36:PM
data			06/15/2019 05:17:PM
readme.docx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document	14.1 KB	07/09/2019 06:47:AM
readme.pdf	application/pdf	113.7 KB	07/09/2019 06:47:AM

Project Citation:

Asher, Sam, and Novosad, Paul. Replication data and code for: Rural Roads and Local Economic Development. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-06-24. https://doi.org/10.3886/E109703V2

Project Description

Summary: These files contain the data and code for the journal article "Rural Roads and Local Economic Development," American Economic Review. Please start with the readme, which contains a detailed description of all files in this repository and instructions for the replication of results in the article.

Abstract
Nearly one billion people worldwide live in rural areas without access to national paved road networks. We estimate the impacts of India’s $40 billion national rural road construction program using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and comprehensive household and firm census microdata. Four years after road construction, the main effect of new feeder roads is to facilitate the movement of workers out of agriculture. However, there are no major changes in agricultural outcomes, income or assets. Employment in village firms expands only slightly. Even with better market connections, remote areas may continue to lack economic opportunities.

Funding Sources: Harvard University. Center for International Development; Harvard University. Department of Economics. Warburg Fund; NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (1156205); IZA GLM-LIC (GA-C3-RA1-354); International Growth Center (1-VCU-VINC-VXXXX-35310)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Rural roads

JEL Classification:
      J43 Agricultural Labor Markets
      O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
      O18 Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis • Housing • Infrastructure
      J43

Geographic Coverage: India

Time Period(s): 2000 – 2013

Universe: Villages in India without paved roads in 2000.

Data Type(s): administrative records data; aggregate data; census/enumeration data; other; program source code

Methodology

Sampling: The main analysis sample is comprised of villages that did not have a paved approach road at the start of the road construction program and whose baseline populations were close to the cutoffs used for prioritization.

Data Source: Indian Population Census
Indian Economic Census
Indian Socioeconomic and Caste Census (SECC)
Indian PMGSY OMMS administrative data
NASA Earth Observing System-Terra MODIS
Indian Planning Commission District Domestic Product
Indian Human Development Survey-II

Please see the readme and associated article for a full list and description of data sources.

Scales: Indian National Classification of Occupations (2004)

Geographic Unit: Village

Related Publications

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Published Versions

V2 [2020-06-24]

V1 [2020-02-28]

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This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.