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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
A large share of the world’s poor live in remote regions, where high costs associated with limited connectivity constrain economic activity. This paper estimates the effects of improvements in infrastructure under a large rural road-building program on production decisions in agriculture. Remote households that gain access to program roads diversify their crop portfolio, adopt modern agricultural technologies and increase hired-labor use. Supporting evidence suggests that program roads increase the mobility of agricultural workers by integrating village labor markets across space, in turn enabling the adoption of labor-intensive production practices. These findings highlight the importance of last-mile connectivity in remote areas across the developing world.