The Influence Of Transportation Infrastructure On The Consumption Unbalance Of Urban And Rural Residents

Since the reform and opening up,China’s economy has been growing at a high speed and steadily.However,while the steady growth of the total economic aggregate,due to the different economic development strategies and resource endowments in different regions of China,imbalanced and inadequate development between regions and between urban and rural areas has become aggravated.According to the National Bureau of Statistics,the consumption ratio of urban and rural residents has remained above 2.0 for a long time,showing a large gap in consumption.As China’s economic development has entered a new normal,it is necessary to expand the potential of domestic demand under the new development pattern,which requires the impetus from the consumption end.Therefore,it is very necessary and urgent to discuss how to alleviate the inequality between urban and rural consumption and boost the consumption demand of rural residents.Many scholars believe that transportation infrastructure can promote economic growth by promoting resource agglomeration,and alleviate the urban-rural development imbalance by improving the flow of labor,capital,technology and other factors between urban and rural areas.However,there are relatively few studies on the consumption effect of transportation infrastructure.Therefore,this paper reviews relevant research literature and analyzes the possible impact of transport infrastructure on urban-rural consumption inequality from the theoretical level.Then,based on the analysis of consumption inequality and the current situation of transport infrastructure,based on the inter-provincial data from 2005 to 2021,a spatial econometric model.This paper empirically examines the impact of transportation infrastructure on consumption inequality between urban and rural areas.The findings are as follows: Firstly,transportation infrastructure may affect the imbalance of urban and rural consumption by increasing urban and rural residents’ income,optimizing product supply and improving consumption environment.Secondly,the urbanrural consumption inequality and transport infrastructure variables have spatial correlation.After establishing the spatial model regression,it is found that transport infrastructure has a significant negative impact on the urban-rural consumption inequality,and the spatial spillover effect is significant.Thirdly,from the comparison of various transportation infrastructures,low-grade highway has the strongest inhibitory effect on the urban-rural consumption inequality,and then the railway,expressway has the weakest inhibitory effect on the urban-rural consumption inequality.Based on this research,the following countermeasures and suggestions are put forward: First,continue to increase the investment in transportation infrastructure,improve the urban and rural transportation network,alleviate the inequality of urban and rural consumption,and promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas.Secondly,improve the quality of transportation infrastructure construction and transportation service level,improve transportation efficiency,optimize resource allocation,reduce transportation costs,so as to improve the consumer environment.Finally,rational planning of different types of transportation infrastructure investment.While constantly optimizing the railway transportation network,the state invests funds appropriately in the construction of rural roads to improve the construction quality of low-grade roads in the aspect of highway construction.