@article {Bell372, author = {Clive Bell and Susanne van Dillen}, title = {How Does India{\textquoteright}s Rural Roads Program Affect the Grassroots? Findings from a Survey in Upland Orissa}, volume = {90}, number = {2}, pages = {372--394}, year = {2014}, doi = {10.3368/le.90.2.372}, publisher = {University of Wisconsin Press}, abstract = {This paper analyzes the effects of all weather rural roads on households{\textquoteright} net output prices, education, and health in a poor region of India. Cross-section and before-and-after comparisons yield these findings: (1) net output prices were 5\% or more higher; (2) fewer days of schooling were lost due to bad weather, largely because teachers had fewer absences; (3) the acutely sick received timelier treatment and more frequently in a hospital than the nearest primary clinic; and (4) respondents ranked the resulting benefits in the domains of health and education at least as highly as the {\textquotedblleft}commercial{\textquotedblright} ones. (JEL O12, O18)}, issn = {0023-7639}, URL = {https://le.uwpress.org/content/90/2/372}, eprint = {https://le.uwpress.org/content/90/2/372.full.pdf}, journal = {Land Economics} }