The impact of the opening of the high-speed railway in the Silk Road economic belt on the regional economy based on the double difference method (PSM-DID)

Abstract

Based on the perspective of the transportation economic belt, this paper studies the impact of the opening of the high-speed rail in the Silk Road Economic Belt on the regional economy. Taking the panel data of 74 cities in the five northwestern provinces and four southwestern provinces in the Silk Road Economic Belt from 2003 to 2018 as a sample, using propensity score matching and double difference method (PSM-DID) to conduct empirical research, the research found that: Firstly, in the urban agglomeration of the Silk Road Economic Belt, whether from the perspective of significance or robustness, the opening of high-speed rail has a significant positive impact on the regional economic effect, and there is a certain lag. Secondly, there is obvious heterogeneity in the impact of high-speed rail effect. In terms of city size, small and medium-sized cities are more affected by the opening of high-speed rail than large cities. From the administrative level, general cities are more susceptible to the opening of high-speed rail than key cities, and their economic development is better under the influence of high-speed rail effect. Thirdly, in terms of transmission mechanism, it is found that the opening of high-speed railway can promote urban economic development by improving the optimization of industrial structure, promoting labor mobility and reducing pollution emissions.