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Public infrastructure investments, productivity and welfare in fixed geographic areas

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Andrew F. Haughwout

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Abstract

Measures of the value of public investments are critical inputs into the policy process, and aggregate production and cost functions have become the dominant methods of evaluating these benefits. This paper examines the limitations of these approaches in light of applied production and spatial equilibrium theories. A spatial general equilibrium model of an economy with nontraded, localized public goods like infrastructure is proposed, and a method for identifying the role of public capital in firm production and household preferences is derived. Empirical evidence from a sample of large U.S. cities suggests that while public capital provides significant productivity and consumption benefits, an ambitious program of locally funded infrastructure provision would likely generate negative net benefits for these cities.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of New York in its series Staff Reports with number 104.

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Date of creation: 2000
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fednsr:104

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Keywords: Infrastructure (Economics) Finance Public Local finance Capital investments

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, 1994. "Public-Sector Capital and the Productivity Puzzle," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 12-21, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Brueckner, Jan K., 1983. "Property value maximization and public sector efficiency," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Garcia-Mila, Teresa & McGuire, Therese J & Porter, Robert H, 1996. "The Effect of Public Capital in State-Level Production Functions Reconsidered," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(1), pages 177-80, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Ernst R. Berndt & Bengt Hansson, 1991. "Measuring the Contribution of Public Infrastructure Capital in Sweden," NBER Working Papers 3842, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Morrison, Catherine J & Schwartz, Amy Ellen, 1996. "State Infrastructure and Productive Performance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1095-1111, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Gyourko, Joseph & Tracy, Joseph, 1991. "The Structure of Local Public Finance and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 774-806, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Haughwout, Andrew F., 1998. "Aggregate Production Functions, Interregional Equilibrium, and the Measurement of Infrastructure Productivity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 216-227, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Alicia H. Munnell, 1991. "Is there a shortfall in public capital investment? An overview," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 23-35.
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  10. Blomquist, Glenn C & Berger, Mark C & Hoehn, John P, 1988. "New Estimates of Quality of Life in Urban Areas," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 89-107, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Brueckner, Jan K., 1979. "Property values, local public expenditure and economic efficiency," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 223-245, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-78, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Randall W. Eberts, 1990. "Cross-sectional analysis of public infrastructure and regional productivity growth," Working Paper 9004, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jason Timmins, 2005. "Is Infrastructure Productive? Evaluating the effects of specific infrastructure projects on firm productivity within New Zealand," Working Papers 05_14, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Stephen P. A. Brown & Kathy J. Hayes & Lori L. Taylor, 2002. "State and local policy, factor markets and regional growth," Working Papers 02 02, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jorge Soares, Marina Azzimonti, Pierre-Daniel Sarte & Pierre-Daniel Sarte & Jorge Soares, 2006. "Distortionary Taxes and Public Investment When Government Promises Are Not Enforceable," Working Papers 06-07, University of Delaware, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Michael F. Williams, 2005. "Can State Governments Redistribute Income? Using Source-Based Capital Taxes For Income Redistribution," The International Journal of Applied Economics, Department of General Business, Southeastern Louisiana University, vol. 2(1), pages 62-78, March. [Downloadable!]
  5. Olivier Cadot & Lars-Hendrik Röller & Andreas Stephan, 2004. "Contribution to Productivity or Pork Barrel? : The Two Faces of Infrastructure Investment," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 458, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Philip Mccann, 2006. "On the supply-side determinants of regional growth," Construction Management & Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 24(7), pages 681-693, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Alfredo M. Pereira & Jorge M. Andraz, 2008. "On the Regional Incidence of Public Investment in Highways in the USA," Working Papers 70, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary. [Downloadable!]
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