Study On The Effect Of Transportation Infrastructure On Regional Total Factor Productivity

Government can regulate the country’s economy at the macro level by adjusting the transportation infrastructure investment,which can play a role in increasing investment,stimulating demand,promoting regional economic exchanges,and narrowing economic disparities.For example,in the past,strategies such as the "Western Development Strategy",the "Central Rise Strategy",and the "Northeast Revitalization Strategy" issued by the central government have all promoted economic development through investment in the construction of transportation infrastructure.Therefore,if we want to play the role of transportation infrastructure in promoting economic develop and promoting the highquality development of regional economy,it is valuable to know the impact of transportation infrastructure on regional TFP.Total factor productivity(TFP)is a key index that represents the total quality of development in different regions,and its changes play a crucial role in the economic development of each region.Due to the decline in total factor productivity in recent years,some scholars believe that China’s economy may face problems of high growth but low quality.In addition,it is essential to promote a change in the quality,efficiency and promotion of economic development and to improve the productivity of all factors.Firstly,this thesis conducts theoretical research and analyzes the mechanism of the impact of transportation infrastructure on regional TFP.Transportation infrastructure has externalities and spatial network.Its externalities have positive and negative effects,as well as regional heterogeneity,which has different degrees of promoting and inhibiting effects on developed and backward regions.Its spatial network can connect different regions,reduce mobility and transportation costs,and promote interregional talent mobility and economic exchange.Transportation infrastructure has an impact on regional transportation infrastructure through its externalities and spatial networks.Then,empirical analysis is conducted to scientifically calculate the value of regional TFP using stochastic frontier analysis methods;Then,a fixed panel model is constructed,with railway density and highway density as core explanatory variables,and urbanization level,industrial structure,human capital,economic development level,fiscal expenditure,and consumption level as control variables.Ordinary least squares regression analysis is conducted;Finally,based on the empirical results,effective countermeasures are proposed for developing transportation infrastructure and improving TFP in China.Through empirical research findings,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)Overall,transportation infrastructure measured by railway density and highway density has a positive impact on regional total factor productivity,and can effectively promote economic growth and highquality development in various regions.(2)The impact of transportation infrastructure on regional TFP has regional heterogeneity,which means the effects are different in different areas.Transportation infrastructure can promote TFP in the eastern,central,and western regions to a certain extent.The ranking of impact effects from strong to weak is the central region、the eastern region、and the western region.This thesis has several main innovations compared with other articles:First,this thesis does an intensive study from the view of the impact of transportation infrastructure on TFP in different regions.Compared to existing literature,this article covers a wider area,and the data used for analysis is more comprehensive,with the intention of obtaining more accurate and realistic conclusions.The second focus is on studying the impact of transportation infrastructure on TFP heterogeneity and the Baumol cost disease phenomenon in China,but there is less research in this area in China.Thirdly,this thesis measures transportation infrastructure with highway and railway traffic facility density variables.The level of urbanization,industrial structure,human capital,economic development level,fiscal expenditure,consumption level,and investment level are taken as control variables.