The impact of population mobility on the consumption of cultural diversity

Evidence from high-speed rail construction and automobile consumption

Dados Bibliográficos

ID17832058
AutoresLiang Yuan (0000-0002-4716-7073, Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute), Xiaoming Fan (0000-0001-7143-2554, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, autor correspondente)
Ano2026
Volume13
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2026-02-27
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHumanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992
EditoraPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41599-026-06675-5
OpenAlexW7131860360
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas47

Previous literature has focused on the impact of HSR on population mobility, but research exploring the impact of HSR on residents’ diverse consumption from the cultural diversity perspective of population mobility is scarce. In this article, data on the opening of high-speed railways in 260 cities in China from 2007 to 2015 were collected and matched with data on private car sales. We use the time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of high-speed railway opening on residents’ diverse consumption (car brand diversity and colour diversity). This paper reveals that the opening of high-speed rail has a significant positive effect on residents’ consumption of automobile brand diversity and colour diversity. Cultural diversity plays a partial mediating role in the impact of high-speed rail opening on diversity consumption. The level of intercity mobility plays a moderating role in the impact of high-speed rail opening on diverse consumption. Furthermore, the robustness of the results was validated by parallel trend tests, the propensity score matching–double difference-in-differences method (PSM-DID), placebo tests, and instrumental variables. The findings of this article enrich the context of the impact of population mobility on cultural exchange and the influencing factors of diverse consumption and have theoretical and practical significance for understanding the impact of major national infrastructure construction on cultural diversity and residential consumption behaviour

China · Cultural diversity · Geographic mobility · Population · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Economic Policies and Impacts