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The Direct Employment Impact of Public Investment

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  • Marian Moszoro

Abstract

We evaluate the direct employment effect of the public investment in key infrastructure—electricity, roads, schools and hospitals, and water and sanitation. Using rich firm-level panel data from 41 countries over 19 years, we estimate that US$1 million of public spending in infrastructure create 3–7 jobs in advanced economies, 10–17 jobs in emerging market economies, and 16–30 jobs in low-income developing countries. As a comparison, US$1 million public spending on R&D yields 5–11 jobs in R&D in OECD countries. Green investment and investment with a larger R&D component deliver higher employment effect. Overall, we estimate that one percent of global GDP in public investment can create more than seven million jobs worldwide through its direct employment effects alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Marian Moszoro, 2021. "The Direct Employment Impact of Public Investment," IMF Working Papers 2021/131, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/131
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    employment effect; job content; employment impact; job elasticity; job intensity; construction employment; job multiplier; Public investment spending; Employment; Job creation; Income; Global;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures

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