Study on Treatment Effects and Spatial Spillover Effects of Beijing–Shanghai HSR on the cities along the line

This paper investigates the influence of Beijing–Shanghai high-speed rail (HSR) on regional economy and its spatial spillover effect along this line. Several forms of spatial difference-in-difference (SDID) models are used to analyze the night light data and other socio-economic data from 47 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2013. The results show that Beijing–Shanghai HSR significantly promoted economic growth of HSR cities compared with adjacent non-HSR cities. At the same time, the impacts of Beijing–Shanghai HSR on HSR cities propagate to other adjacent cities, promoting the economic growth of these cities. The opening of Beijing–Shanghai HSR also increased spatial spillover effect on the overall region along the line.