Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282699 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16572
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The focus of this study is to assess the causal impact of the connection of a local area to a high-speed rail network (HSR) on firms' total factor productivity (TFP). The quasi-random location of the HSR station in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia is exploited in a Difference-in Differences (DiD) research design applied to a large sample of firms, observed over the period 2010-2018. The results suggest that the opening of the HSR station improved treated firms' TFP of about 5%; in particular, such effect is larger for firms closer to the HSR station and slightly increases over the sample period. We also find that the impact of the connection to the HSR station is heterogeneous across industries and depends on firms' size and past productivity. Overall results are robust to a large number of sensitivity checks and falsification tests.
Subjects: 
transport infrastructure
Difference-in-Differences
total factor productivity
JEL: 
C50
D24
L92
R30
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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