Heterogeneous Impacts of Main and Feeder Road Improvements: Evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Rural Transportation Infrastructure in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of Impacts, Implications, and Interventions

“…In an attempt to extend the benefits that rural transportation infrastructure can bring to communities [7][8][9]207], particular experts have honed their focus onto pieces of the rural transportation system that serve different functions [208]. Rural roads are a widely discussed strategy that may also be referred to as feeder roads, tertiary roads, low-volume rural roads (LVRRs), community-level roads, village-roads, and lower class roads [34,38,[209][210][211][212][213].…”

“…Agencies such as ReCAP have developed manuals regarding the implementation, maintenance, and management of LVRRs in countries such as Afghanistan and Myanmar [223,224]. Governments in countries such as India, Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ghana have rolled out massive feeder road campaigns aimed at providing and sustaining socioeconomic benefits for rural dwellers [41,208,209,219,221,225]. Despite substantial evidence in support of these interventions, the complete impacts of expanded rural roads still warrant further research [213,215].…”

“…Future research considering the impacts of LVRRs in developing contexts should address the limited household-level data available regarding these impacts [38], and continue to use research to inform policy, especially regarding the prioritization of rural transportation works [213]. Beyond this, additional inquiries may involve feeder services, which could help to increase the benefits experienced by rural dwellers who experience newfound access [7], and should address the connections between feeder roads and larger trunk network components [208]. Table 13 provides a summary of key points related to rural roads while Table 14 summaries future research recommendations.…”

The Impact of Ethiopia'S Road Investment Program on Economic Development and Land Use: Evidence from Satellite Data

“…For this analysis, we focus only on RSDP I-III, which concentrated on trunk and link roads. In RSDP IV, Ethiopia began URRAP, which had the objective of connecting all of Ethiopia's Kebeles to the nearest all-weather road (Ethiopian Roads Authority, 2015b; Iimi et al, 2018). As of 2016, the latest year in our roads dataset during RSDP IV, not all Kebeles were connected.…”

Rural Roads, Poverty, and Resilience: Evidence from Ethiopia

“…Development of non-rural roads, such as regional corridors, is not considered as the treatment Iimi et al (2018). is an example that analyzes the impacts of road access by distinguishing rural roads and regional corridors in Ethiopia.12 No spatial spillover is a key assumption for the identification of the impacts of rural roads (stable unit treatment value assumption, or SUTVA).…”