High-speed rail transit impact on regional systems: does the Shinkansen contribute to dispersion?

This paper intends to evaluate impacts of high-speed rail transit, i.e., Shinkansen network in Japan on spatial dispersion of economic activities and population. For doing so, a simple supply-oriented regional econometric model is constructed, and simulation analyses are carried out for alternative hypothetical scenarios of the Shinkansen network. The results show that denser Shinkansen network will not necessarily contribute to regional dispersion. <!--ID="" Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to two anonymous referees and the editor of this Journal for their useful and constructive criticisms and comments on the original version. This research was supported by a grant from East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, which is greatly appreciated.-->