Airports and regional development: the expansion of the Norwegian air network, 1950–2019

Abstract This article studies how airports affect regional growth in population and employment, considering heterogeneity in the circumstances of an airport’s opening. We use synthetic controls with staggered adoption and data on the whole airport system in Norway for 1950–2019. We find positive overall effects of airports on population and employment growth. Addressing heterogeneity, we find relatively strong effects of airports opened in the 1950s, more distant from other airports, with longer runways, or with links to major cities. We also find stronger growth if an airport is opened in a region with a university, college, or hospital.