Evaluating the Impact of Rural Road Projects Based on Counterfactual Scene Approach

Abstract:

The basic rationale for public investment in rural road projects is that households can achieve better transport access which supplies the opportunities to increase the welfare efficiently. This paper examines the impacts of rural road projects on rural household’s income using a quasi-experimental household-level panel data from Fujian Province, China, surveying treatment and control villages before and after project implementation. Rural road projects are found to improve the income of households in treatment villages, political life and the relationship with relatives and friends. However, the traditional before and after approach may overestimate income improve effect, and it has been proved to unsuitable to evaluate the impact of rural road projects on household income.