Expansion in access to public infrastructure can have varied, micro-level impacts. In this paper, we use
quasi-random access to rural paved roads through a large-scale road-construction program in India to study
how road access impacts fertility decisions and investments in child health. We find that increased access
to paved roads at the district-level leads to a rise in fertility, improved investments in children—measured
through breastfeeding duration and immunization—and lower infant mortality. We also investigate the
potential labor market mechanisms that drive these effects, and heterogeneity in the impacts by plausibly
exogenous variation in levels of female labor force participation (FLFP). We find that in districts with
erstwhile lower levels of FLFP, the effects on fertility and child health are driven by paved road access
causing women to drop out of the labour force, while men shift from unpaid work to paid work. On
the other hand, in districts with higher FLFP due to women’s involvement in agriculture, we find that
the increase in fertility can be explained by women substituting away from (paid) employment towards
full-time domestic work.
