Despite a large policy-thrust towards road provision in developing countries, the impact of roads on poverty alleviation is not well-understood. Using quasi-random road placement from a rural road construction program in India, this paper finds evidence of lower prices and increased availability of non-local goods in treatment areas, suggesting greater market integration. Reduced-form evidence suggests that changes in market access caused rural households to (a) increase the adoption of agricultural technologies, and (b) pull teenaged members out of school to join the labor force. Enrollment gains for younger children point to an improvement in access to public services.
URL : 20170725033445.pdf