Urban Transport Infrastructure and Household Welfare : Evidence from Colombia

The effects of urban transport policies on household welfare are a broadly understudied topic in developing countries. This paper analyzes the distributional effects of a newly established bus rapid transit system in Barranquilla, Colombia. The pap...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pfutze, Tobias, Rodriguez-Castelan, Carlos, Valderrama-Gonzalez, Daniel
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/887031518722888596/Urban-transport-infrastructure-and-household-welfare-evidence-from-Colombia
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29375
Description
Summary:The effects of urban transport policies on household welfare are a broadly understudied topic in developing countries. This paper analyzes the distributional effects of a newly established bus rapid transit system in Barranquilla, Colombia. The paper uses pooled cross-sectional household survey data, analyzed by block, over 2008-15 and a difference-in-differences approach. The analysis shows that, in proximity to newly opened stations, poor households were replaced by households in the middle and upper socioeconomic strata. These results suggest that the designers of the system, despite the generally positive assessment of the system, may have overlooked the distributional consequences. Moreover, the paper shows that any results on outcomes that may be directly affected by the related policy will be biased due to urban displacement.