Does high-speed rail affect the agglomeration of banks in China?

Abstract

This paper assesses the distributional impacts of high-speed rail (HSR) transportation on the agglomeration of banks in China. Using the data of county-level cities in China from 2000 to 2017, we find that the proliferation of HSR yields a positive impact on our indicators of banking agglomeration in large counties, while its impact in small counties is negative. Our results are consistent with a promotive effect of HSR lines to induce banking resources to be increasingly clustered toward large counties in China.