As a Chinese saying goes, ‘To get rich, first pave the way’: The opening of high-speed rail and automobile consumption in China

Abstract

The impact of high-speed rail (HSR) opening on residents' automobile consumption behavior is an economic issue that deserves attention. Based on monthly data on the opening of high-speed rail and the registration of automobiles in China's prefecture-level cities from 2008 to 2015, this paper uses the quasinatural experiment of high-speed rail opening, and the time-varying difference-differences (DID) method is used to analyze the impact and mechanism of the opening of China's high-speed rail on the automobile consumption behavior of consumers in prefecture-level cities. These research results show that the opening of high-speed rails significantly promotes consumers' purchase of automobiles. Specifically, it has a significant impact on the vehicle's brand (prefer joint venture brands) and color (prefer hue automobiles) as well as the payment method (prefer full payment). Furthermore, the expected increase in residents' income due to the opening of high-speed rail stimulates the sense of financial well-being (mediating mechanism), which in turn has an impact on the abovementioned automobile consumption behavior. These novel findings have a positive impact and significance on the national high-speed rail strategy, consumers' well-being, and the production and marketing strategies of automobile companies.