The Poverty Impact of Rural Roads: Evidence from Bangladesh

Khandker, Shahidur R.; Bakht, Zaid; Koolwal, Gayatri B.

dc.creator	Khandker, Shahidur R.
dc.creator	Bakht, Zaid
dc.creator	Koolwal, Gayatri B.
dc.date	2012-03-30T07:28:54Z
dc.date	2012-03-30T07:28:54Z
dc.date	2009
dc.date.accessioned	2023-02-18T19:43:33Z
dc.date.available	2023-02-18T19:43:33Z
dc.identifier	Economic Development and Cultural Change
dc.identifier	00130079
dc.identifier	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4627
dc.identifier.uri	http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/250107
dc.description	A rationale for public investment in rural roads is that households can better exploit agricultural and nonagricultural opportunities to employ labor and capital more efficiently. Significant knowledge gaps persist, however, as to how opportunities provided by roads actually filter back into household outcomes as well as distributional consequences. This study examines the impacts of two rural road-paving projects in Bangladesh using a new quasi-experimental household panel data set surveying project and control villages before and after program implementation. A household panel fixed-effects methodology controlling for initial area conditions is used to estimate the impact of paved roads on household and individual outcomes and account for potential bias in program placement at the village level. Rural road investments are found to reduce poverty significantly through higher agricultural production, lower input and transportation costs, and higher agricultural output prices at local village markets. Rural road development has also led to higher secondary schooling enrollment for boys and girls, as compared to primary school enrollment. We find that road investments have also benefited the poor, meaning the gains are significant for the poor and in some cases disproportionately higher than for the nonpoor.
dc.language	EN
dc.relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
dc.rights	World Bank
dc.subject	Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O120
dc.subject	Economic Development: Agriculture
dc.subject	Natural Resources
dc.subject	Energy
dc.subject	Environment
dc.subject	Other Primary Products O130
dc.subject	Economic Development: Human Resources
dc.subject	Human Development
dc.subject	Income Distribution
dc.subject	Migration O150
dc.subject	Economic Development: Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses
dc.subject	Transportation O180
dc.subject	Agriculture: Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis
dc.subject	Prices Q110
dc.subject	Transportation Systems: Government and Private Investment Analysis
dc.subject	Road Maintenance, Transportation Planning R420
dc.title	The Poverty Impact of Rural Roads: Evidence from Bangladesh
dc.type	Journal Article
dc.type	Journal Article
dc.coverage	Bangladesh