How do rural roads affect development? Evidence from India

Despite broad consensus that high transportation costs are a large barrier to economic development, many of the world’s poor live in rural communities without paved roads, impeding their access to outside markets and public services. The costs of road construction are high, and the impact of rural roads on economic activity has proven difficult for economists to assess, due to both data limitations and challenges arising from internal road placement. By collecting a unique dataset containing village-level socioeconomic outcomes across all of rural India, this project seeks to analyse the impacts of India’s large-scale rural road construction programme, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

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