IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ajagec/v103y2021i2p620-642.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Infrastructure Improvements and Maize Market Integration: Bridging the Zambezi in Mozambique

Author

Listed:
  • Sam Jones
  • César Salazar

Abstract

Historically, transport infrastructure connecting the most agriculturally productive areas of Mozambique and the richer southern region has been poor. A primary bottleneck was an unreliable ferry service over the Zambezi river, addressed by construction of a road bridge in 2009. In this paper we identify the impact of this transport infrastructure enhancement on integration of national maize markets. Applying a dyadic regression approach, we find a significant narrowing of equilibrium price differences among market pairs that experienced a large relative reduction in journey times due to the new bridge. We also estimate that the elasticity of the absolute price differential with respect to intermarket driving times is around 30%. As such, the new bridge infrastructure enhanced market integration by shrinking the “internal border” at the river, but such benefits were spatially limited.

Suggested Citation

  • Sam Jones & César Salazar, 2021. "Infrastructure Improvements and Maize Market Integration: Bridging the Zambezi in Mozambique," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(2), pages 620-642, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:103:y:2021:i:2:p:620-642
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12103
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajae.12103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Linda L. Tesar, 2009. "Border Effect or Country Effect? Seattle May Not Be So Far from Vancouver After All," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 219-241, January.
    2. Jones, Sam & Tarp, Finn, 2013. "Jobs and Welfare in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 045, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Ejrnaes, Mette & Persson, Karl Gunnar, 2000. "Market Integration and Transport Costs in France 1825-1903: A Threshold Error Correction Approach to the Law of One Price," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 149-173, April.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10840 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Dave Donaldson, 2018. "Railroads of the Raj: Estimating the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 899-934, April.
    6. Fernando Borraz & Alberto Cavallo & Roberto Rigobon & Leandro Zipitria, 2016. "Distance and Political Boundaries: Estimating Border Effects under Inequality Constraints," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 3-35, January.
    7. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    8. Guy Michaels, 2008. "The Effect of Trade on the Demand for Skill: Evidence from the Interstate Highway System," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 683-701, November.
    9. Rémi Jedwab & Adam Storeygard, 2022. "The Average and Heterogeneous Effects of Transportation Investments: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa 1960–2010," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-38.
    10. Goldberg, Pinelopi K. & Verboven, Frank, 2005. "Market integration and convergence to the Law of One Price: evidence from the European car market," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 49-73, January.
    11. Xavier Cirera & Channing Arndt, 2008. "Measuring the impact of road rehabilitation on spatial market efficiency in maize markets in Mozambique," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(1), pages 17-28, July.
    12. Jenny C. Aker, 2010. "Information from Markets Near and Far: Mobile Phones and Agricultural Markets in Niger," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 46-59, July.
    13. Richard J. Sexton & Catherine L. Kling & Hoy F. Carman, 1991. "Market Integration, Efficiency of Arbitrage, and Imperfect Competition: Methodology and Application to U.S. Celery," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(3), pages 568-580.
    14. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    15. Remi Jedwab & Alexander Moradi, 2016. "The Permanent Effects of Transportation Revolutions in Poor Countries: Evidence from Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 268-284, May.
    16. Barry K. Goodwin & Ted C. Schroeder, 1990. "Testing Perfect Spatial Market Integration: An Application to Regional U.S. Cattle Markets," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 12(2), pages 173-186.
    17. Christopher B. Barrett & Jau Rong Li, 2002. "Distinguishing between Equilibrium and Integration in Spatial Price Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(2), pages 292-307.
    18. 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.
    19. Sam Jones & Finn Tarp, 2013. "Jobs and Welfare in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-045, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Parsley, David C. & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2001. "Explaining the border effect: the role of exchange rate variability, shipping costs, and geography," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 87-105, October.
    21. Tarp, Finn & Arndt, Channing & Jensen, Henning Tarp & Robinson, Sherman & Heltberg, Rasmus, 2002. "Facing the development challenge in Mozambique: an economywide perspective," Research reports 126, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    22. John Baffes & Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad, 2001. "Identifying price linkages: a review of the literature and an application to the world market of cotton," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(15), pages 1927-1941.
    23. Fafchamps, Marcel & Gubert, Flore, 2007. "The formation of risk sharing networks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 326-350, July.
    24. David C. Parsley & Shang-Jin Wei, 1996. "Convergence to the Law of One Price Without Trade Barriers or Currency Fluctuations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(4), pages 1211-1236.
    25. Easterly, William & Rebelo, Sergio, 1993. "Fiscal policy and economic growth: An empirical investigation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 417-458, December.
    26. Marcel Fafchamps & Flore Gubert, 2007. "Risk Sharing and Network Formation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 75-79, May.
    27. Chandra, Amitabh & Thompson, Eric, 2000. "Does public infrastructure affect economic activity?: Evidence from the rural interstate highway system," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 457-490, July.
    28. Bob Baulch, 1997. "Transfer Costs, Spatial Arbitrage, and Testing for Food Market Integration," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 477-487.
    29. Penzhorn, Niels & Arndt, Channing, 2002. "Maize Markets In Mozambique: Testing For Market Integration," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 41(2).
    30. 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.
    31. Emílio Tostão & B. Wade Brorsen, 2005. "Spatial price efficiency in Mozambique's post‐reform maize markets," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(2), pages 205-214, September.
    32. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4392 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Tschirley, David L. & Abdula, Danilo Carimo & Weber, Michael T., 2006. "Toward Improved Maize Marketing and Trade Policies to Promote Household Food Security in Central and Southern Mozambique," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 56065, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    34. Datta, Saugato, 2012. "The impact of improved highways on Indian firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 46-57.
    35. Badiane, Ousmane & Shively, Gerald E., 1998. "Spatial integration, transport costs, and the response of local prices to policy changes in Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 411-431, August.
    36. C. Simon Fan & Xiangdong Wei, 2006. "The Law of One Price: Evidence from the Transitional Economy of China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 682-697, November.
    37. Andrabi, Tahir & Kuehlwein, Michael, 2010. "Railways and Price Convergence in British India," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 351-377, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brian Blankespoor & M Shahe Emran & Forhad Shilpi & Lu Xu, 2022. "Bridge to bigpush or backwash? Market integration, reallocation and productivity effects of Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh [Agricultural technology choice and transport]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 853-871.
    2. Forhad Shilpi & M Shahe Emran & Brian Blankespoor & Harold Coulombe, 2024. "Temporary trade shocks and regional development: evidence from the closure of Abidjan port," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 333-352.
    3. Chelanga, Philemon & Jensen, Nathaniel & Muendo, Kavoi Mutuku, 2022. "Pastoral livestock market integration amidst improvements in physical and communication infrastructure: Evidence from northern Kenya," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 17(4), December.
    4. Mulubrhan Amare & Kibrom A. Abay & Patrick Hatzenbuehler, 2024. "Spatial market integration during a pandemic: Evidence from food markets in Nigeria," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 86-103, January.
    5. César Salazar & Andrés Acuña‐Duarte & José Maria Gil, 2023. "Drought shocks and price adjustments in local food markets in Chile: Do product quality and marketing channel matter?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 349-363, May.

    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. César Salazar & Sam Jones, 2017. "The impact of infrastructure shocks on agricultural markets: Evidence from the Zambezi river in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 191, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. César Salazar-Espinoza & Sam Jones, 2017. "The impact of infrastructure shocks on agricultural markets: Evidence from the Zambezi river in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-191, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. César Salazar & Andrés Acuña‐Duarte & José Maria Gil, 2023. "Drought shocks and price adjustments in local food markets in Chile: Do product quality and marketing channel matter?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 349-363, May.
    4. Ankamah-Yeboah, Isaac, 2012. "Spatial Price Transmission in the Regional Maize Markets in Ghana," MPRA Paper 49720, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Meizal Popat & Garry Griffith & Stuart Mounter & Oscar Cacho, 2022. "Infrastructure investments, regional trade agreements and agricultural market integration in Mozambique," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(1), pages 9-22, February.
    9. He, Guojun & Xie, Yang & Zhang, Bing, 2020. "Expressways, GDP, and the environment: The case of China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    10. Li, Zhigang & Wu, Mingqin & Chen, Bin R., 2017. "Is road infrastructure investment in China excessive? Evidence from productivity of firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 116-126.
    11. Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, 2017. "The analysis of market integration and price transmission – results and implications in an African context," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 83-96, April.
    12. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2012. "Market Integration in Mozambique:: A Non-Parametric Extension to the Threshold Model," MSSP working papers 4, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Okamoto, Chigusa & Sato, Yasuhiro, 2021. "Impacts of high-speed rail construction on land prices in urban agglomerations: Evidence from Kyushu in Japan," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. David B Audretsch & Dirk Christian Dohse & João Pereira dos Santos, 0. "The effects of highway tolls on private business activity—results from a natural experiment," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(6), pages 1331-1357.
    15. 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).
    16. Yoshifumi Konishi & Akari Ono, 2024. "Do Winners Win More from Transport Megaprojects? Evidence from the Great Seto Bridge in Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2024-018, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    17. Holl, Adelheid, 2016. "Highways and productivity in manufacturing firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 131-151.
    18. Chen, Fanglin & Hao, Xinyue & Chen, Zhongfei, 2021. "Can high-speed rail improve health and alleviate health inequality? Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 266-279.
    19. Li, Chunying & Zhang, Jinning & Lyu, Yanwei, 2022. "Does the opening of China railway express promote urban total factor productivity? New evidence based on SDID and SDDD model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    20. repec:ags:ijag24:346854 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Klein, Alexander & Barde, Sylvain, 2021. "Transportation Costs in the Age of Highways: Evidence from United States 1955-2010," CEPR Discussion Papers 16734, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:ajagec:v:103:y:2021:i:2:p:620-642. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8276 .

    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.