Can high-speed rail improve health and alleviate health inequality? Evidence from China.

This study uses the China Health and Nutrition Survey data to investigate the relationship between infrastructure construction and health inequality, particularly by exploring a quasi-natural experiment, namely, high-speed rail (HSR) projects. We find that HSR accessibility improves the health of local residents with a coefficient of 0.298, which means that HSR operation will lead to a 2.30% increase in health. HSR accessibility also increases individual income, per capita household income, and the probability of purchasing medical insurance, thereby increasing the health level of individuals. Further analysis shows that HSR reduces the health gap across gender and urban–rural areas. Unfortunately, HSR also increases the health gap among different income groups. • This paper evaluates the health effects of high-speed rail (HSR). • HSR accessibility improves the health of local residents. • HSR accessibility have increased the health gap among different income groups. • HSR layout should be complementary with medical resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]