The Impact of Transportation Infrastructure on Manufacturing Energy Intensity: Micro Evidence from High-Speed Railway in China
研究中国高铁运营如何通过促进先进管理技术、技术创新、降低债务成本等渠道降低制造业企业能源强度，并发现该效应随距离增加而减弱，在中小城市、高集中度行业及国有大型企业中更显著。
This paper examines the potential of infrastructure improvements, particularly the operation of High-speed railway (HSR), to enhance the energy efficiency of firms. By regarding the operation of the China’s HSR as an exogenous shock, this paper relies on a difference-in-differences estimation to isolate the causal effect of the infrastructure improvement on manufacturing firms’ energy intensity. This paper finds that the operation of HSR has improved the manufacturing firms’ energy intensity through the catalyzing the proliferation of advanced management techniques, and this effect gradually decreases with the increase in distance between the firm and the HSR station. Moreover, HSR indirectly decreases energy intensity by fostering technological innovation, decreasing debt financing costs, and extending debt financing magnitude. The study also uncovers heterogeneous effects of HSR connectivity on manufacturing firms’ energy intensity, which are more pronounced in smaller cities and industries characterized by high concentration and low agglomeration. Furthermore, the impact of HSR connectivity on reducing energy intensity is more substantial in state-owned and larger firms compared to non-state-owned and smaller firms.