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TFP, Costs, and Public Infrastructure: An Equivocal Relationship

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Eliana La Ferrara
Massimiliano Marcellino

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Abstract

This paper studies the impact of public infrastructure on economic perfor-mance. We employ three different methodologies to estimate the returns to public investment. First, we relate growth in total factor productivity to accumulation of public capital. Second, we assess the role of public capital as an input to production. Third, we evaluate the reduction in costs that can be attributed to the presence of public infrastructure. Using regional data for Italy, we find that the aggregate impact of public capital is positive and significant under the first approach, slightly negative under the second, and virtually zero under the third. More coherent results obtain when disaggregating by geographical area and time period: under all three approaches, the effectiveness of public investment seems to be increasing over time and to be higher in Central and Southern regions than in Northern ones.

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Paper provided by IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University in its series Working Papers with number 176.

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Handle: RePEc:igi:igierp:176

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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. Morrison, Catherine J, 1988. "Quasi-Fixed Inputs in U.S. and Japanese Manufacturing: A Generalized Leontief Restricted Cost Function Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 275-87, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. 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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  3. Alicia H. Munnell & Leah M. Cook, 1990. "How does public infrastructure affect regional economic performance?," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Sep, pages 11-33.
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  4. 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)
  5. Morrison, Catherine J & Schwartz, Amy Ellen, 1996. "Public Infrastructure, Private Input Demand, and Economic Performance in New England Manufacturing," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 14(1), pages 91-101, January.
  6. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Does public capital crowd out private capital?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 171-188, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages S103-26, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Lucio Picci, 1995. "Productivity and Infrastructure in the Italian Regions," Working Papers 230, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Federico Bonaglia & Eliana La Ferrara & Massimiliano Marcellino, . "Public Capital and Economic Performance: Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 163, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Ballard, Charles L & Fullerton, Don, 1992. "Distortionary Taxes and the Provision of Public Goods," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 117-31, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Catherine J. Morrison & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 1992. "State Infrastructure and Productive Performance," NBER Working Papers 3981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. King, M A, 1972. "Corporate Taxation and Dividend Behaviour: A further Comment," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(2), pages 231-34, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Dr. Peter Kenning & Hilke Plassmann, 2004. "NeuroEconomics," Experimental 0412005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  14. Evans, Paul & Karras, Georgios, 1994. "Are Government Activities Productive? Evidence from a Panel of U.S. States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 1-11, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Alicia H. Munnell, 1990. "Why has productivity growth declined? Productivity and public investment," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Jan, pages 3-22.
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  1. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & R. Pala, 2000. "Estimation of total factor productivity for regions and sectors in Italy. A panel cointegration approach," Working Paper CRENoS 200016, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia. [Downloadable!]
  2. Torrisi, Gianpiero, 2009. "Public infrastructure: definition, classification and measurement issues," MPRA Paper 12990, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Guido Ascari & Valeria Di Cosmo, 2005. "Determinants of Total Factor Productivity in the Italian Regions," Macroeconomics 0511009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  4. Federico Bonaglia & Eliana La Ferrara & Massimiliano Marcellino, . "Public Capital and Economic Performance: Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 163, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Torrisi, Gianpiero, 2009. "A multilevel analysis on the economic impact of public infrastructure and corruption on Italian regions," MPRA Paper 15487, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  6. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci, 2006. "The effects of public capital on the productivity of the Italian regions," Working Paper CRENoS 200613, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia. [Downloadable!]
  7. Balazs Egert & Tomasz Kozluk & Douglas Sutherland, 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth: Empirical Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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