Rural road infrastructure & agricultural production: Evidence from India

A large share of the world's poor live in remote regions, where high costs associated with limited connectivity constrain economic activity. This paper estimates the effects of improvements in infrastructure under a large rural road-building program on production decisions in agriculture. Remote households that gain access to program roads diversify their crop portfolio, adopt modern agricultural technologies and increase hired labor use. Supporting evidence suggests that program roads increase the mobility of agricultural workers by integrating village labor markets across space, in turn enabling the adoption of labor-intensive production practices. These findings highlight the importance of last-mile connectivity in remote areas across the developing world.