The Ecological Impact of Transportation Infrastructure

Bibliographic Data

ID9711334
AuthorsSam Asher (0000-0002-2584-8011, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies), Teevrat Garg (0000-0003-4139-9508, University of California San Diego), Paul Novosad (0000-0001-8331-6630, Dartmouth College, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume130
Issue629
Pages1173-1199
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueaa013
OpenAlexW3125908525
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited42

There is a long-standing debate over whether new roads unavoidably lead to environmental damage, especially forest loss, but causal identification has been elusive. Using multiple causal identification strategies, we study the construction of new rural roads to over 100,000 villages and the upgrading of 10,000 kilometers of national highways in India. The new rural roads had precisely zero effect on local deforestation. In contrast, the highway upgrades caused substantial forest loss, which appears to be driven by increased timber demand along the transportation corridors. In terms of forests, last mile connectivity had a negligible environmental cost, while expansion of major corridors had important environmental impacts

Business · Deforestation (computer science · Economics · Environmental impact assessment · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Identification (biology · Logging · Mile · Natural resource economics · Computer Science · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Ecology · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Energy, Environment, Economic Growth · Environmental Science · Forestry

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