Bird, JuliaStraub, Stephane2014-08-152014-08-152014-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19361This paper studies the impact of the rapid expansion of the Brazilian road network, which occurred from the 1960s to the 2000s, on the growth and spatial allocation of population and economic activity across the country's municipalities. It addresses the problem of endogeneity in infrastructure location by using an original empirical strategy, based on the "historical natural experiment" constituted by the creation of the new federal capital city Brasília in 1960. The results reveal a dual pattern, with improved transport connections increasing concentration of economic activity and population around the main centers in the South of the country, while spurring the emergence of secondary economic centers in the less developed North, in line with predictions in terms of agglomeration economies. Over the period, roads are shown to account for half of pcGDP growth and to spur a significant decrease in spatial inequality.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTUREAGGLOMERATION ECONOMIESAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTUREBENCHMARKCENSUSESCENTER FOR POPULATIONCONCENTRATION OF POPULATIONCONGESTIONCOST OF TRAVELDECENTRALIZATIONDEMOCRACYDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIVIDENDSDRINKING WATERDRIVINGECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GEOGRAPHYECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OUTCOMESECONOMIC RESEARCHECONOMIC SPECIALIZATIONECONOMIC THEORYELASTICITIESELASTICITYEQUALITYEXOGENOUS VARIABLESEXTERNALITIESFREIGHTGDPGDP PER CAPITAGROWTH RATEHEALTH FACILITIESHIGHWAYHIGHWAY NETWORKHIGHWAY SYSTEMHIGHWAYSHUMAN CAPITALIMPROVEMENT OF ROAD INFRASTRUCTUREINCOME LEVELSINDUSTRIALIZATIONINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE SERVICESINTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEMLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLARGE CITIESLITERACY RATESLOCAL DEVELOPMENTMETROPOLITAN AREASMETROPOLITAN REGIONSMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRYMIGRANTMIGRATIONMIGRATION PROCESSMODE OF TRANSPORTMUNICIPALITIESMUNICIPALITYNATIONAL POPULATIONNEIGHBORHOODOPPORTUNITY COSTPASSENGERSPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION DECREASEPOPULATION DENSITYPOPULATION GROWTHPOPULATION INCREASEPOPULATION INCREASESPOPULATION MOVEMENTPOPULATION MOVEMENTSPOPULATION SIZEPOPULATION VARIABLESPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPROGRESSPROXYPUBLIC POLICYPULL FACTORPULL FACTORSRAILROADSRESPECTROADROAD BUILDINGROAD CONNECTIONSROAD CONSTRUCTIONROAD DEVELOPMENTROAD IMPROVEMENTSROAD NETWORKROAD SECTORROAD SYSTEMSROADSROUTEROUTESRURAL AREASSPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONSPILLOVERSTOCKSTRANSPORTTRANSPORT ACCESSTRANSPORT CORRIDORSTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION CORRIDORSTRANSPORTATION COSTSTRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTTRAVEL COSTSTRUCK TRANSPORTUNFPAUNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUNDURBAN AREASURBAN CENTERURBAN CENTERSURBAN DEVELOPMENTURBAN POPULATIONURBAN ROADSURBANIZATIONVALUE ADDEDVEHICLESWAR10.1596/1813-9450-6964