Heterogeneous impact of high speed railway on income distribution: A case study in China

Many studies have found that the operation of high-speed railways (HSRs) is accompanied by local economic benefits at the gross domestic product level. However, the effects on the per-capita disposable income of residents and the idea of an even sharing of their economic benefits are still unclear. To fill this research gap, this study investigates the impacts of HSR operation on resident income from 2008 to 2018 in China by using the multi-stage difference-in-differences (DID) and propensity score matching DID methods. The results suggest that both rural and urban residents in central China and rural residents in the eastern region benefit from HSRs. Further, rural residents of cities with a higher reliance on the primary industry and urban residents of cities with a more developed tertiary industry benefit more from HSRs. Our findings provide new insights into the socioeconomic effects of HSR construction.