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Investment in transportation infrastructure is a critical strategy for narrowing regional development disparities. As critical nodes in the global transportation network, airports possess unique advantages in bridging these disparities. Utilizing night light data, we construct indicators of regional inequality and conduct a longitudinal analysis of airports in China from 2000 to 2022, empirically assessing the significant impact of airports on alleviating county-level inequality. Our findings reveal that airports reduce county inequality by an average of 0.009 units, a conclusion supported by a series of robustness tests. Also, airports with high throughput play a more significant role. Moreover, our results illustrate complex interrelationships between airports and existing transportation infrastructure, demonstrating substitutability with railways and complementarity with roads. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that airports exert a more pronounced effect on reducing inequality in non-central cities and in areas with higher unemployment rates. Finally, our research establishes that airports help mitigate regional inequality by fostering entrepreneurship, enhancing employment in the tertiary sector, and attracting foreign investment. The research offers valuable insights for policymakers regarding the comprehensive planning of new transportation facilities and the optimization of transportation networks.
Zuo et al. (Tue,) studied this question.