Improved transportation links help communities prosper financially, but there’s an unexpected social dividend that can compound that prosperity—lower rates of smoking and drinking and higher levels of school attendance.

The Philippine government started its “Ro-Ro” policy in 2003 to link up islands and other remote areas in the archipelago nation with a system of roll-on, roll-off ferries.

Family incomes grew around the ports, with agricultural workers picking up non-farm work and farmers on islands around the ports able to increase their incomes through better access to markets and inputs to improve their farms. Altogether family incomes around the ports grew by about 4%.

The increased access to jobs and rising incomes had an unexpected social impact—less smoking and drinking and more kids in school.

Read the transcript

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Read the working paper

https://www.adb.org/publications/impact-improved-transport-connectivity-income-education-health-philippines

About the authors

Kris Francisco was a research associate at the ADB Institute at the time of writing

Matthias Helble is senior economist and co-chair of the Research Department at ADBI.

https://www.adb.org/adbi/about/staff-profiles/matthias-helble

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