Berg, Claudia N.Blankespoor, BrianSelod, Harris2016-07-072016-07-072016-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/24646This paper assesses the relation between access to markets and cultivated land in Sub-Saharan Africa. Making use of a geo-referenced panel over three decades (1970-2005) during which the road network was significantly improved, the analysis finds a modest but significant positive association between increased market accessibility and local cropland expansion. It also finds that cropland expansion, in turn, is associated with a small but significant increase in local gross domestic product. These results are suggestive of agricultural activities that develop at the extensive margin, which are mostly to serve local demand, but are not indicative of commercial agriculture that serves external markets.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOTRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTSDEFICITHOLDINGPOPULATION DISTRIBUTIONLOCAL POPULATIONCHECKSACCOUNTINGURBANIZATIONROAD IMPROVEMENTSINTERESTCROPLANDAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTUREURBAN POPULATION GROWTH RATESEXCHANGEPROPERTY RIGHTSDOMESTIC MARKETELASTICITYPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPRICINGROAD INFRASTRUCTUREDUMMY VARIABLEMARKET ACCESSNUMBER OF PEOPLECHANGE IN POPULATIONTRANSACTION COSTINTERNATIONAL BANKTRANSPORT INVESTMENTTRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTUREINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEENABLING ENVIRONMENTSPEEDSPOVERTY REDUCTIONCONVERSIONKNOWLEDGEDEVELOPMENTTRANSPORT INVESTMENTSROADCROP PRODUCTIONCOSTSMARKET DEVELOPMENTROAD NETWORKTRANSPORTLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESPOPULATION GROWTHAGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGYPOPULATION DIVISIONINDUSTRIALIZATIONMIGRATIONMONETARY FUNDADOPTIONMARKETSRETURNINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSCULTURAL CHANGEPRODUCTTRAVEL TIMESRURAL ROADSPOPULATION PANELGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTTRANSPORT INDUSTRYINFRASTRUCTUREPUBLIC INVESTMENTLAND USERESPECTCITY POPULATIONPROGRESSTRANSACTIONGOODFOOD SECURITYTRAVELTRANSPORTATIONMARKET POTENTIALPOLICIESROAD CATEGORIESPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERVALUEPOPULATION GROWTH RATESLOCAL MARKETRETURNSACCESSIBILITYDEMANDRURAL INFRASTRUCTURERURAL POVERTYPOPULATION DENSITYURBAN AREASGLOBAL POPULATIONAGRICULTUREPROPERTYIMPROVED ACCESSIBILITYMARKETPOPULATIONSACCESS TO MARKETSHIGHWAYSAGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIESPOLICYPOPULATION GROWTH RATEROADSEXTERNAL MARKETCDSOCIAL AFFAIRSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTHIGHWAYGOODSSECURITYREGIONSLOCAL COMMUNITIESINVESTMENTSPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONURBAN POPULATION GROWTHRURAL AREASPOVERTYRAILROADSSUBSISTENCE FARMINGLANESPOPULATIONINVESTMENTSCHECKPOLICY RESEARCHHEAVY RELIANCEROAD INVESTMENTROAD CONNECTIONSFERTILITYROAD INFORMATIONPOPULATION DATAURBAN POPULATIONSTRANSPORT COSTSPUBLIC SPENDINGEXTERNAL MARKETSTRAVEL TIMERURAL DEVELOPMENTURBAN POPULATIONTRANSPORT POLICIESPOPULATION INCREASESPRICESDEVELOPMENT POLICYWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7729