Discussion Papers 2018
CIRJE-F-1097 | "Impacts of High-Speed Rail Construction on Urban Agglomerations: Evidence from Kyushu in Japan" |
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Author Name | Okamoto, Chigusa and Yasuhiro Sato |
Date | October 2018 |
Full Paper | |
Remarks | Forthcoming in Journal of Asian Economics |
Abstract |
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High-speed rail integrates regions and cities, and thus can possibly have significant im- pacts on the distribution of economic activities. Using the opening and extensions of a high-speed rail, Shinkansen, in Kyushu, Japan, we examine its effects on the distribution of economic activities across urban agglomerations. We focus on changes in land prices and estimate hedonic price equations to conduct a difference-in-difference analysis. We find that the large metropolitan areas gained from the high-speed rail by experiencing increases in land prices, whereas small metropolitan areas located between them lost by experiencing decreased land prices. However, such positive effects are shown to be limited to areas close to Shinkansen stations. |