This dissertation studies the effects of transportation access on outcomes ranging from national identity to maternal health and household income. The first chapter studies how the improvement of infrastructure affects national identity. The post-colonial era in Africa witnessed nation-building efforts aimed at establishing a national identity. Nation building is driven by the need for a united population to prevent conflicts and ensure long-term political stability. One key component of nation building is constructing a sense of belonging to one nation and having a strong sense of national identity. This paper explores the role infrastructure development plays in shaping ethnic and national identity. I use georeferenced data from five Afrobarometer waves, combined with a digitized panel dataset on road quality. As roads are not exogenously distributed and can be allocated based on the location of policymakers' ethnic homelands, I propose an instrumental variable strategy based on a least cost path network. I find that living near a paved road reduces national attachment and increases ethnic attachment. In terms of mechanisms, we find that road paving improves Information and Communications Technology (ICT), thus strengthening social networks created along ethnic lines. I also find an increase in the perception of corruption in governments—both national and local. Infrastructure projects can create opportunities for financial misappropriation, thus weakening respondents’ trust in government and consequently weakening their attachment to the nation.The second chapter studies the relationship between access to paved roads and maternal health. One important aspect of public health in developing countries is maternal and child health. As developing countries continue to invest in the improvement of maternal and child health, studies have found a list of obstacles to improving these two key aspects of public health. One of said obstacles is poor access to infrastructure to access health facilities. This project studies the effect of access to road infrastructure on maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper aims to answer the following question: How does the development of road infrastructure affect maternal and child health? The condition of a road is not static over time. Often, roads are upgraded from unpaved to paved. Using a difference in differences estimation method, I study the extent to which the improvement of a mother’s nearest road increases the likelihood of access to good antenatal and delivery care. When studying the effects of road improvement on child health, the paper studies the extent to which the improvement of a child’s nearest road improves child malnutrition outcomes such as stunting and wasting. I find that women who deliver after a road is paved have more access to skilled midwives. Regarding child malnutrition, I find a reduction in the likelihood of being stunted or underweight, when the child is born after the road is paved. The third chapter studies the introduction of the bus rapid transit in Cape Town and the effects on the residents’ income. As cities grew, planners developed a number of transportation systems to cater to their residents, two of which are Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rapid Transit (LRT). While the MRT is represented by the subway or metro system, the LRT can be referred to as the tram or streetcars. A third one, emerging as early as the 1930s is the Bus Rapid Transit system. The BRT is a bus-based transportation system with better capacity and efficiency than standard bus systems. The BRT combines the efficiency of a metro system with the low cost and flexibility of a bus system. Starting in 2010, the city of Cape Town introduced MyCiti, a new Bus Rapid Transit system. It was progressively rolled out across the city. This paper studies the following question: what are the effects of BRT system constructions on income and employment in Cape Town? I use the South Africa National Household Travel Survey, to study employment and income metrics. I find that living near a bus rapid transit station is associated with an increase in personal and household income. When the effects are broken down by racial group, I find that coloured households saw large increases in personal and household income, while there was no change in the personal and household income of black and white residents.
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