中文摘要
我们研究国际长途航班对经济活动在全球的空间配置的影响。为识别因果效应，我们利用监管与技术约束所引起的变异：这些约束使城市间连通性在城市间距离为6,000英里处出现不连续性。我们表明，改善机场在航空联系网络中的地位，会对当地经济活动产生正向影响；当地经济活动通过卫星测量的夜间灯光来衡量。我们发现，航空联系增加了企业间联系，表明人员流动促进了资本流动。具体而言，这主要由资本从高收入国家流向中等收入国家（而非低收入国家）所驱动。综合来看，这些结果提示，提高互联程度会促成企业间联系，并在地方层面产生经济活动，但也会加剧当地的空间不平等，并可能加剧全球的空间不平等。
Abstract
We study the impact of international long-distance flights on the global spatial allocation of economic activity. To identify causal effects, we exploit variation due to regulatory and technological constraints, which gives rise to a discontinuity in connectedness between cities at a distance of 6,000 miles. We show that improving an airport’s position in the network of air links has a positive effect on local economic activity, as captured by satellite-measured night lights. We find that air links increase business links, showing that the movement of people fosters the movement of capital. In particular, this is driven mostly by capital flowing from high-income to middle-income (but not low-income) countries. Taken together, the results suggest that increasing interconnectedness induces links between businesses and generates economic activity at the local level but also gives rise to increased spatial inequality locally, and potentially globally.