High-speed rail construction and market access of cities: Empirical evidence from China

Abstract

<abstract> <p>After decades of rapid development, economic level has undergone qualitative changes in both aggregate and structural terms in China. This paper introduces the concept of market access, which argues that there are externalities to the opening of high-speed railways (HSRs) and that the accessibility of cities without high-speed railways is similarly affected by the opening of high-speed railways in other cities and investigates the impact of the opening of high-speed railways on the market access of cities. By drawing on Herzog's estimation framework, general equilibrium conditions for trade are estimated and a derived simplified model is used to determine a method for measuring cities' ability to enter the market. A systematic study of the <italic>market access</italic> indicator methodology for assessing transport infrastructure improvements is conducted to examine the spatial and temporal evolution of high-speed rail construction in China, measure the changes in market access due to high-speed rail and conduct a characteristic factual analysis based on the results obtained. The paper finds that the average inter-city travel time in China fell by 2.27 hours, i.e., 15.67%, from 2015 to 2019, with the marginal contribution to the decline in travel time coming mainly from the opening of HSRs. Over the 10 years from 2010 to 2019, the logarithm of access to market capacity for Chinese cities increased by around 50%, with the construction of high-speed railways leading to a substantial increase in access to market capacity. Overall, this paper focuses on the scientific method of measurement to provide a better objective understanding of the impact and evolution of high-speed rail construction on the market access of cities in China.</p> </abstract>