The Brasilia Experiment : Road Access and the Spatial Pattern of Long-term Local Development in Brazil

Bird, Julia ; Straub, Stephane

World Bank Group, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE;    AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION;    AGRICULTURE;    BENCHMARK;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-6964
RP-ID  :  WPS6964

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper studies the impact of therapid expansion of the Brazilian road network, whichoccurred from the 1960s to the 2000s, on the growth andspatial allocation of population and economic activityacross the country's municipalities. It addresses theproblem of endogeneity in infrastructure location by usingan original empirical strategy, based on the"historical natural experiment" constituted by thecreation of the new federal capital city Brasília in 1960.The results reveal a dual pattern, with improved transportconnections increasing concentration of economic activityand population around the main centers in the South of thecountry, while spurring the emergence of secondary economiccenters in the less developed North, in line withpredictions in terms of agglomeration economies. Over theperiod, roads are shown to account for half of pcGDP growthand to spur a significant decrease in spatial inequality.