LAUSR

This paper estimates the effect of airports on regional development using the substantial increase of airports in the 1970s in Norway as the source of variation. The effects are estimated using a difference-in-difference design by comparing municipalities with a shorter distance to the nearest airport (treated) to three sets of control municipalities. As regional impacts, the paper considers population and employment at the municipality level. The results demonstrate a positive but not significant effect on population and employment. The point estimates indicate that the population in municipalities near the constructed airports increased by 5% from 1970 to 1980, but the overall imprecision of the estimates makes it impossible to reject the hypothesis that the airports had no regional impacts.