Transport Infrastructure and Income Inequality: Evidence from China’s province data

We use China’s province-level data over the period 1995-2014 to examine the role of infrastructure in shaping income inequality, with special emphasis on transport infrastructure, the land network system. Several findings come out of the analysis. Transport infrastructure alleviates income inequality. Moreover, this inequality-decreasing effect operates partly through improvements in employment conditions and holds for provinces with sufficient levels of transport infrastructure. Despite so, transport infrastructure eventually rises income inequality in the long run.本研究采用1995-2014年中国省级面板数据，考察基础设施对收入分配差距的塑造作用，重点关注作为陆路网络系统的交通基础设施。本分析得出若干研究结论：交通基础设施可缓解收入分配差距；进一步而言，该缩窄收入差距的效应部分通过改善就业环境实现，且在交通基础设施水平充足的省份中依然成立。尽管如此，从长期来看，交通基础设施最终会扩大收入分配差距。