Can high-speed rail improve health and alleviate health inequality? Evidence from China

This study uses the China Health and Nutrition Survey data to investigate the relationship between infrastructure construction and health inequality, particularly by exploring a quasi-natural experiment, namely, high-speed rail (HSR) projects. The authors find that HSR accessibility improves the health of local residents with a coefficient of 0.298, which means that HSR operation will lead to a 2.30% increase in health. HSR accessibility also increases individual income, per capita household income, and the probability of purchasing medical insurance, thereby increasing the health level of individuals. Further analysis shows that HSR reduces the health gap across gender and urban–rural areas. Unfortunately, HSR also increases the health gap among different income groups.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.10.007
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X21002894
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/29485010
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Chen, Fanglin
  • Hao, Xinyue
  • 0000-0003-2266-5428
  • Chen, Zhongfei
• Publication Date: 2021-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 266-279
• Serial:
  • Transport Policy
  • Volume: 114
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0967-070X
  • Serial URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/096707X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Economic and social factors; Equity; High speed rail; Public health; Quality of life
• Geographic Terms: China
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01788712
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 18 2021 12:12PM