Road Infrastructure in Europe and Central Asia: Does Network Quality Affect Trade?

The authors present a new database of minimum distance road routes connecting 138 cities in 27 countries across Europe and Central Asia. They use it to show that improved road network quality is robustly associated with higher intraregional trade flows. Gravity model simulations suggest that an ambitious but feasible road upgrade could increase trade by 50 percent over baseline, exceeding the expected gains from tariff reductions or trade facilitation programs of comparable scope. Cross-country spillovers due to overland transit are important: total intraregional trade could be increased by 30 percent by upgrading roads in just three countries-Albania, Hungary, and Romania.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Shepherd, Ben, Wilson, John S.
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2006-12
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE VALUE, AD VALOREM, ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES, AVERAGE TARIFF, BILATERAL TRADE, BORDER CROSSINGS, BOTTLENECKS, CAPITAL GOODS, CENTRAL ASIAN, CHANGES IN TRADE, CONGESTION, COST ELASTICITIES, CURRENCY, CURRENT ENVIRONMENT, CUSTOMS, CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES, CUSTOMS FORMALITIES, CUSTOMS PROCEDURES, DRIVING, ECONOMIC WELFARE, ELASTICITY, ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION, EXPORTING COUNTRIES, EXPORTS, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, FUEL, GRAVITY MODEL, GRAVITY MODELS, HIGH TRANSPORT, IMPACT OF TRADE, IMPORTING COUNTRIES, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INTRAREGIONAL TRADE, LENGTH OF ROAD, POLICY RESEARCH, QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS, REGIONAL TRADE, ROAD, ROAD COSTS, ROAD IMPROVEMENT, ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE, ROAD NETWORK, ROAD QUALITY, ROAD TRANSPORT, ROADS, ROUTE, ROUTES, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, TARIFF LEVELS, TARIFF REDUCTION, TARIFF REDUCTIONS, TRADE COSTS, TRADE DATA, TRADE DETERMINANTS, TRADE FACILITATION, TRADE FLOW DATA, TRADE FLOWS, TRADE POLICIES, TRADE POLICY, TRADE VALUES, TRAINS, TRANSIT, TRANSIT CORRIDORS, TRANSIT COUNTRIES, TRANSIT ROUTES, TRANSPORT COSTS, TRANSPORT DATA, TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT, TRUE, TYPES OF ROAD, UNDUE INFLUENCE, WESTERN EUROPE, WORLD TRADE, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/12/7289532/road-infrastructure-europe-central-asia-network-quality-affect-trade https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9262
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!