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Providing quality infrastructure in rural villages: The case of rural roads in China

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  • Wong, Ho Lun
  • Luo, Renfu
  • Zhang, Linxiu
  • Rozelle, Scott

Abstract

When seeking to build high quality and cost-effective infrastructure in rural villages, a fundamental question is: Who is better at doing so? Should the village leadership or a government agency above the village finance and/or manage the construction of the infrastructure project? To answer this question, we surveyed all rural road projects in 101 villages in rural China between 2003 and 2007 and measured the quality and per kilometer cost of each road. According to our analysis, road quality was higher when more of the project funds came from the government agency above. Moreover, projects had lower cost per kilometer when the village leaders managed the road construction. Overall, our findings suggest that to build high quality and cost-effective rural roads village leaders and government agencies should collaborate and each specialize in a specific project role.

Suggested Citation

  • Wong, Ho Lun & Luo, Renfu & Zhang, Linxiu & Rozelle, Scott, 2013. "Providing quality infrastructure in rural villages: The case of rural roads in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 262-274.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:103:y:2013:i:c:p:262-274
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.03.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dan Pan & Ruiyao Ying & Zuhui Huang, 2017. "Determinants of Residential Solid Waste Management Services Provision: A Village-Level Analysis in Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Qin Li & Shuangning Lv & Jingya Cui & Dongchen Hou & Yijun Liu & Wenlong Li, 2024. "Sustainability Constraints on Rural Road Infrastructure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Howell, Anthony, 2024. "Rural road stimulus and the role of matching mandates on economic recovery in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    5. Jintao Zhan & Yubei Ma & Wuyang Hu & Chao Chen & Qinan Lu, 2022. "Enhancing rural income through public agricultural R&D: Spatial spillover and infrastructure thresholds," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 1083-1107, May.
    6. Kumari, Anita & Kumar Sharma, Anil, 2017. "Infrastructure financing and development: A bibliometric review," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 49-65.
    7. Jincan Hu & Junyi Liang & Litao Tian & Shaojian Wang, 2023. "Measurement and Coupling Coordination of High-Quality Development in Guangdong Province of China: A Spatiotemporal Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Zhong, Taiyang & Zhang, Xiaoling & Huang, Xianjin & Liu, Fang, 2019. "Blessing or curse? Impact of land finance on rural public infrastructure development," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 130-141.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Decentralization; Quality infrastructure; Project finance; Project management; Road quality; Rural China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

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