IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i9p5527-d808673.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Empirical Analysis of the Benefits of Opening a Highway in Terms of Changes in Housing Prices

Author

Listed:
  • Wonchul Kim

    (Department of Spatial & Environmental Planning, Chungnam Institute, Gongju-si 32589, Korea)

  • Sung Hyo Hong

    (Economics Department, Kongju National University, Chungnam 32588, Korea)

Abstract

This study empirically analyzes the social benefits of opening a highway by assessing the increase in housing prices in two surrounding regions: one defined as the treatment group and the other defined as the control group. Although the two regions are geographically adjacent, they belong to different administrative districts and are physically separated by natural topographical features such as mountain ranges. Both aspects make it so that the interaction or influence between the two regions is limited, which raises the probability that the control group will show a trend similar to that of the treatment group under the influence of economic factors but will not be affected by the opening of the highway. With this in mind, the benefits of accessibility improvement due to the opening of the highway are estimated by using the difference-in-differences framework, i.e., the relative change in housing prices in the treatment group compared to the control group. In addition, the corresponding highway route is analyzed by dividing it into three sections according to their opening times and locations. The findings suggest that the estimated benefits are not fictional but robust. The increase in housing prices due to the opening of a highway is estimated to be, on average, 586 to 3075 dollars per apartment (equivalently, USD 10 to 53 per square meter). These benefits are worthy of being reflected upon, complementary to a traditional cost-benefit analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Wonchul Kim & Sung Hyo Hong, 2022. "An Empirical Analysis of the Benefits of Opening a Highway in Terms of Changes in Housing Prices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5527-:d:808673
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5527/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5527/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anjali Adukia & Sam Asher & Paul Novosad, 2020. "Educational Investment Responses to Economic Opportunity: Evidence from Indian Road Construction," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 348-376, January.
    2. Coulson, N. Edward & Engle, Robert F., 1987. "Transportation costs and the rent gradient," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 287-297, May.
    3. Robert Armstrong & Daniel Rodríguez, 2006. "An Evaluation of the Accessibility Benefits of Commuter Rail in Eastern Massachusetts using Spatial Hedonic Price Functions," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 21-43, January.
    4. Gilles Duranton & Peter M. Morrow & Matthew A. Turner, 2014. "Roads and Trade: Evidence from the US," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 681-724.
    5. Hymel, Kent, 2019. "If you build it, they will drive: Measuring induced demand for vehicle travel in urban areas," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 57-66.
    6. Sam Asher & Paul Novosad, 2020. "Rural Roads and Local Economic Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 797-823, March.
    7. Treb Allen & Costas Arkolakis, 2014. "Trade and the Topography of the Spatial Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1085-1140.
    8. Adam Storeygard, 2016. "Farther on down the Road: Transport Costs, Trade and Urban Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(3), pages 1263-1295.
    9. Ghebreegziabiher Debrezion & Eric Pels & Piet Rietveld, 2007. "The Impact of Railway Stations on Residential and Commercial Property Value: A Meta-analysis," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 161-180, August.
    10. Sylvain Leduc & Daniel J. Wilson, 2014. "Fueling road spending with federal stimulus," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    11. Nathaniel Baum-Snow, 2007. "Did Highways Cause Suburbanization?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 775-805.
    12. John G. Fernald, 1999. "Roads to Prosperity? Assessing the Link between Public Capital and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 619-638, June.
    13. Aggarwal, Shilpa, 2018. "Do rural roads create pathways out of poverty? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 375-395.
    14. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2012. "Urban Growth and Transportation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(4), pages 1407-1440.
    15. Taede Tillema & Marije Hamersma & Joseph M. Sussman & Jos Arts, 2012. "Extending the Scope of Highway Planning: Accessibility, Negative Externalities and the Residential Context," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 745-759, August.
    16. Banerjee, Abhijit & Duflo, Esther & Qian, Nancy, 2020. "On the road: Access to transportation infrastructure and economic growth in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    17. Ian W. H. Parry & Margaret Walls & Winston Harrington, 2007. "Automobile Externalities and Policies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 373-399, June.
    18. Mats Wilhelmsson, 2000. "The Impact of Traffic Noise on the Values of Single-family Houses," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(6), pages 799-815.
    19. Or Levkovich & Jan Rouwendal & Ramona Marwijk, 2016. "The effects of highway development on housing prices," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 379-405, March.
    20. Ejaz Ghani & Arti Grover Goswami & William R. Kerr, 2016. "Highway to Success: The Impact of the Golden Quadrilateral Project for the Location and Performance of Indian Manufacturing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(591), pages 317-357, March.
    21. Slesh A. Shrestha, 2020. "Roads, Participation in Markets, and Benefits to Agricultural Households: Evidence from the Topography-Based Highway Network in Nepal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(3), pages 839-864.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Redding, Stephen J. & Turner, Matthew A., 2015. "Transportation Costs and the Spatial Organization of Economic Activity," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1339-1398, Elsevier.
    2. He, Guojun & Xie, Yang & Zhang, Bing, 2020. "Expressways, GDP, and the environment: The case of China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    3. Yoshifumi Konishi & Akari Ono, 2024. "Do Winners Win More from Transport Megaprojects? Evidence from the Great Seto Bridges in Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2024-003, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    4. Gertler, Paul J. & Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Gračner, Tadeja & Rothenberg, Alexander D., 2024. "Road maintenance and local economic development: Evidence from Indonesia’s highways," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    5. Gertler, Paul J & Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Gracner, Tadeja & Rothenberg, Alexander, 2023. "Road Maintenance and Local Economic Development," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt38m633q0, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    6. Taylor Jaworski & Carl T. Kitchens, 2019. "National Policy for Regional Development: Historical Evidence from Appalachian Highways," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 777-790, December.
    7. Claudia N. Berg & Uwe Deichmann & Yishen Liu & Harris Selod, 2017. "Transport Policies and Development," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 465-480, April.
    8. Hymel, Kent, 2019. "If you build it, they will drive: Measuring induced demand for vehicle travel in urban areas," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 57-66.
    9. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo & Cusolito, Ana, 2017. "Roads, exports and employment: Evidence from a developing country," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 21-39.
    10. Kailthya, Subham & Kambhampati, Uma, 2022. "Road to productivity: Effects of roads on total factor productivity in Indian manufacturing," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 174-195.
    11. Das, Abhiman & Ghani, Ejaz & Grover, Arti & Kerr, William & Nanda, Ramana, 2024. "JUE insight: Infrastructure and Finance: Evidence from India’s GQ highway network," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    12. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2019. "Connecting Disadvantaged Communities to Work and Higher Education Opportunities: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 12824, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Bird, Julia & Straub, Stéphane, 2020. "The Brasília experiment: The heterogeneous impact of road access on spatial development in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    14. Gilles Duranton & Geetika Nagpal & Matthew A. Turner, 2020. "Transportation Infrastructure in the US," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment, pages 165-210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Gibbons, Stephen & Lyytikäinen, Teemu & Overman, Henry G. & Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa, 2019. "New road infrastructure: The effects on firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 35-50.
    16. Holl, Adelheid, 2016. "Highways and productivity in manufacturing firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 131-151.
    17. Santamaria, Marta, 2020. "Reshaping Infrastructure: Evidence from the division of Germany," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1244, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    18. Stephan Fretz & Raphaël Parchet & Frédéric Robert-Nicoud, 2022. "Highways, Market Access and Spatial Sorting," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1011-1036.
    19. Barzin, Samira & D'Costa, Sabine & Graham, Daniel J., 2018. "A pseudo – panel approach to estimating dynamic effects of road infrastructure on firm performance in a developing country context," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 20-34.
    20. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5527-:d:808673. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.