The Effect of Highway Toll Standard on Regional Economic Development—Based on the Empirical Analysis of the Provincial Panel Data in China from 2011 to 2017

Using 2011–2017 provincial panel data from 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China, this paper empirically analyzes the effect of annual toll income per unit mileage on the level of regional economic development and the scale of toll road mileage by constructing an econometric model. (1) The regression results of full samples show that the annual toll income per unit mileage has a significant inhibitory effect on the improvement of the level of regional economic development; (2) The regression results of regional samples show that the annual toll income per unit mileage has a significant inhibitory effect on the level of economic development in the western region but has no significant inhibitory effect on the level of economic development in the eastern and central regions; and (3) Foreign direct investment between annual toll income per unit mileage and the level of regional economic development exerts a negative moderation effect in the western region. Foreign direct investment plays a positive moderation role between the annual toll income per unit mileage and the scale of toll road mileage.