Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T07:17:13.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quasi-Experimental Designs For Measuring Impacts Of Developmental Highways In Rural Areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

Josef M. Broder ,
Teresa D. Taylor  and
Kevin T. McNamara
Josef M. Broder
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia
Teresa D. Taylor
Affiliation:
Tennessee Valley Authority
Kevin T. McNamara
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Quasi-experimental techniques were developed to provide decision-making tools for documenting the impacts of developmental highways in rural areas. Regression discontinuity analysis (RDA) with limited observations was used to compare economic changes in highway counties to those in adjacent and non-adjacent control counties. The RDA models found statistically significant changes in population, per capita income, and taxable sales related to highway development. The study found that some counties benefitted from developmental highways, some were unchanged, while some experienced economic decline. RDA models with adjacent controls had better explanatory powers while those with non-adjacent controls were more sensitive to highway-related changes in economic activity. When significant non-highway activities were present, adjacent control models may have understated highway-related impacts, while non-adjacent control models may have overstated these impacts. Arguments for using adjacent and non-adjacent experimental designs are discussed.

Keywords

highwaysimpact assessmentquasi-experimental designrural developmenttransportationinfrastructure investments
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , July 1992 , pp. 199 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Briggs, R. “The Impact of the Interstate Highway System on Non-Metropolitan Development, 1950-75.” Beyond the Urban Fringe, Piatt, R.H. and Macinko, G., eds. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1983.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. T. and Stanley, J. C.. Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research. Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1963.Google Scholar
Carlino, G. A. and Mills, E. S.. “The Determinants of County Growth.” J. Regional Sci., 27 (1987):39–54.Google Scholar
Cook, T. D. and Campbell, D. T.. Quasi-Experimentation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.Google Scholar
Georgia Department of Revenue. Annual Statistical Reports. Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia Department of Revenue, 1969-1986.Google Scholar
Henry, M. S. “Agriculture's Stake in Rural Economic Development.” Northeast. J. Agr. and Resource Econ., 15(1986):75–85.Google Scholar
Henry, M. S., London, J. B., Brooks, K. R., and Singletary, L. A.. “The Contribution of Four Lane Highway Investments to Employment Growth in Rural South Carolina 1970-89: Quasi-Experimentation.” Rural Infrastructure and Economic Development Issues: Information Systems, Transportation, and Education, Clouser, R., ed. Mississippi State University, Southern Rural Development Center, 1991.Google Scholar
Isserman, A. M. “Research Designs for Quasi-Experimental Control Group Analysis in Regional Science.” Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Regional Research Institute Research Paper 9006, 1990.Google Scholar
Isserman, A. M. and Merrifield, J. D.. “Quasi-Experimental Control Group Methods for Regional Analysis: An Application to an Energy Boomtown and Growth Pole Theory.” Econ.Geo., 63 (1987):3–17.Google Scholar
Johnson, T. G. “The Developmental Impacts of Transportation Investments.” Rural Infrastructure and Economic Development Issues: Information Systems, Transportation, and Education, Clouser, R., ed Mississippi State University: Southern Rural Development Center, 1991.Google Scholar
Jordan, J. L. “On the Road Again? Infrastructure and Transportation in the Rural Economy.” Emerging Issues in the Rural Economy of the South, Mississippi State: Southern Rural Development Center, 1986.Google Scholar
Kau, J. B. “The Interaction of Transportation and Land Use.” Forecasting Transportation Impacts Upon Land Use. Wendt, P.F., ed., Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Social Sciences Division, 1976.Google Scholar
Kmenta, J. Elements of Econometrics. New York: Macmillan Company, 1971.Google Scholar
McCain, L. J. and McCleary, R.. “The Statistical Analysis of the Simple Interrupted Time-Series Quasi-Ex-periment.” Quasi-Experimentation, pp. 233–294. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.Google Scholar
Miller, J. P. “Interstate Highways: Influencing Rural Jobs?” Rural Development Perspectives. Washington, DC: U. S. Dept. of Ag., ERS, March 1980.Google Scholar
Nijkamp, P. “Infrastructure and Regional Development: A Multidimensional Policy Analysis.” Empirical Econ. 11.1(1986): 1–21.Google Scholar
Richardson, H. “Growth Pole Spillovers: The Dynamics of Backwash and Spread.” Regional Studies, 10 (1976): 1–19.Google Scholar
SAS Institute. SAS User's Guide: Statistics, 5th edition. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, 1985.Google Scholar
Smith, E. D., Deaton, B. J., and Kelch, D. R.. “Location Determinants of Manufacturing Industry in Rural Areas.” S. J. Agr. Econ. 10.1 (1981):23–32.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Population Estimates and Projections. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, 1974 - 1986..Google Scholar
Yeats, M. H. “A Multivariate Analysis of Some Aspects of the Economics Geography of Florida,” Southeastern Geographer. 4 (1964): 11–20.Google Scholar