IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fth/washer/0071.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Scale, Congestion, and Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Theo S Eicher
  • Stephen Turnovsky

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between aggregate and relativecongestion, returns to scale and economic growth. Aggregate congestionreduces the effective productivity of capital; relative congestion reducesthe effective productivity of labour. Both forms of congestion adverselyaffect the equilibrium growth rate, although their relative effects dependupon aggregate returns to scale. The two forms of congestion havecontrasting effects on the transitional dynamics. Relative congestionretards the rate of adjustment; aggregate congestion accelerates it. Theexternalities generated by congestion and non‐optimal expenditure can befully corrected, both during the transition and in steady state, by atime‐invariant income tax.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Theo S Eicher & Stephen Turnovsky, 1998. "Scale, Congestion, and Growth," Discussion Papers in Economics at the University of Washington 0071, Department of Economics at the University of Washington.
    • Handle: RePEc:fth:washer:0071
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.washington.edu/user/sturn/Scale_Congestion_Growth.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stokey, Nancy L & Rebelo, Sergio, 1995. "Growth Effects of Flat-Rate Taxes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(3), pages 519-550, June.
    2. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    3. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Goodman, Robert P, 1973. "Private Demands for Public Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 280-296, June.
    4. Charles I. Jones, 1995. "Time Series Tests of Endogenous Growth Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 495-525.
    5. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    6. Glomm, Gerhard & Ravikumar, B., 1997. "Productive government expenditures and long-run growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 183-204, January.
    7. Borcherding, Thomas E & Deacon, Robert T, 1972. "The Demand for the Services of Non-Federal Governments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 891-901, December.
    8. Gramlich, Edward M, 1994. "Infrastructure Investment: A Review Essay," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 1176-1196, September.
    9. Backus, David K. & Kehoe, Patrick J. & Kehoe, Timothy J., 1992. "In search of scale effects in trade and growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 377-409, December.
    10. Robert M. Solow, 1994. "Perspectives on Growth Theory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 45-54, Winter.
    11. Robert J. Barro & Paul Romer, 1993. "Economic Growth (1992)," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number barr93-1, March.
    12. 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 103-126, October.
    13. Glomm, Gerhard & Ravikumar, B., 1994. "Public investment in infrastructure in a simple growth model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 1173-1187, November.
    14. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1997. "Fiscal Policy In A Growing Economy With Public Capital," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 615-639, September.
    15. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1996. "Optimal tax, debt, and expenditure policies in a growing economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 21-44, April.
    16. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-I-Martin, 1992. "Public Finance in Models of Economic Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(4), pages 645-661.
    17. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    18. Ortigueira, Salvador & Santos, Manuel S, 1997. "On the Speed of Convergence in Endogenous Growth Models," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 383-399, June.
    19. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Does public capital crowd out private capital?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 171-188, September.
    20. Alwyn Young, 1998. "Growth without Scale Effects," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(1), pages 41-63, February.
    21. Grier, Kevin B. & Tullock, Gordon, 1989. "An empirical analysis of cross-national economic growth, 1951-1980," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 259-276, September.
    22. Futagami, Koichi & Morita, Yuichi & Shibata, Akihisa, 1993. " Dynamic Analysis of an Endogenous Growth Model with Public Capital," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(4), pages 607-625, December.
    23. Aschauer, David Alan & Greenwood, Jeremy, 1985. "Macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 91-138, January.
    24. Kormendi, Roger C. & Meguire, Philip G., 1985. "Macroeconomic determinants of growth: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 141-163, September.
    25. Chamley, Christophe, 1986. "Optimal Taxation of Capital Income in General Equilibrium with Infinite Lives," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 607-622, May.
    26. Oakland, William H., 1972. "Congestion, public goods and welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 339-357, November.
    27. Edwards, John H. Y., 1990. "Congestion function specification and the "publicness" of local public goods," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 80-96, January.
    28. Eicher, Theo S & Turnovsky, Stephen J, 1999. "Non-scale Models of Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(457), pages 394-415, July.
    29. repec:cup:macdyn:v:1:y:1997:i:3:p:615-39 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ingrid Ott & Susanne Soretz, 2006. "Governmental activity, integration, and agglomeration," Working Paper Series in Economics 57, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    2. Chen, Xiaodong & Mi, Haoming & Zhou, Peng, 2023. "Whether to decentralize and how to decentralize? The optimal fiscal federalism in an endogenous growth model," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2023/11, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    3. Cem Karayalçin, 2008. "Divided We Stand, United We Fall: The Hume-North-Jones Mechanism For The Rise Of Europe," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 49(3), pages 973-997, August.
    4. Vladimir V. Dashkeev & Stephen J. Turnovsky, 2023. "Tax systems and public borrowing limits in a fiscal union," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 351-395, April.
    5. Karayalcin, Cem & Ulubasoglu, Mehmet Ali, 2009. "Romes without empires: urban concentration, political competition, and economic growth," Working Papers eco_2009_18, Deakin University, Department of Economics.
    6. Mihaela Pintea, 2004. "Fiscal Policy in a Two-Sector Economy with Public Capital and Congestion," Computing in Economics and Finance 2004 55, Society for Computational Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Turnovsky, S., 2000. "Growth in an Open Economy: some Recent Developments," Papers 5, Warwick - Development Economics Research Centre.
    2. Minea, Alexandru, 2008. "The Role of Public Spending in the Growth Theory Evolution," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 5(2), pages 99-120, June.
    3. Manuel A. Gómez, 2008. "Fiscal Policy, Congestion, and Endogenous Growth," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 10(4), pages 595-622, August.
    4. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1999. "Productive Government Expenditure In A Stochastically Growing Economy," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 544-570, December.
    5. Turnovsky, Stephen J, 2004. "The Transitional Dynamics of Fiscal Policy: Long-Run Capital Accumulation and Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(5), pages 883-910, October.
    6. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1999. "On the role of government in a stochastically growing open economy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 873-908, April.
    7. Simon Wiederhold, 2012. "The Role of Public Procurement in Innovation: Theory and Empirical Evidence," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 43.
    8. Andreas Irmen & Johanna Kuehnel, 2009. "Productive Government Expenditure And Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 692-733, September.
    9. Fisher, Walter H. & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1997. "Congestion and Public Capital," Economics Series 47, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    10. Chatterjee, Santanu & Mahbub Morshed, A.K.M., 2011. "Reprint to: Infrastructure provision and macroeconomic performance," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1405-1423, September.
    11. Chatterjee, Santanu & Mahbub Morshed, A.K.M., 2011. "Infrastructure provision and macroeconomic performance," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1288-1306, August.
    12. Ingrid Ott & Stephen J. Turnovsky, 2006. "Excludable and Non‐excludable Public Inputs: Consequences for Economic Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 73(292), pages 725-748, November.
    13. Stephen Turnovsky, 1999. "Knife-Edge Conditions and the Macroeconomics of Small Open Economies," Discussion Papers in Economics at the University of Washington 0031, Department of Economics at the University of Washington.
    14. Turnovsky, Stephen J. & Chatterjee, Santanu, 2002. "To Spend the U.S. Government Surplus or to Increase the Deficit? A Numerical Analysis of the Policy Options," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 405-435, December.
    15. Santanu Chatterjee & Olaf Posch & Dennis Wesselbaum, 2017. "Delays in Public Goods," Working Papers 1702, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Feb 2017.
    16. Cassou, Steven P. & Lansing, Kevin J., 1998. "Optimal fiscal policy, public capital, and the productivity slowdown," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 911-935, June.
    17. Chatterjee, Santanu & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2007. "Foreign aid and economic growth: The role of flexible labor supply," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 507-533, September.
    18. Moisa Altar & Judita Samuel, 2008. "Fiscal Policy, Public Capital and Economic Growth," Advances in Economic and Financial Research - DOFIN Working Paper Series 5, Bucharest University of Economics, Center for Advanced Research in Finance and Banking - CARFIB.
    19. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, Victoria, 2002. "Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Fiscal Policies on Long-Run Growth," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-028/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Apr 2003.
    20. Moisa Altar & Judita Samuel, 2008. "The Influence of Fiscal Policy on Economic Growth," Advances in Economic and Financial Research - DOFIN Working Paper Series 7, Bucharest University of Economics, Center for Advanced Research in Finance and Banking - CARFIB.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fth:washer:0071. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thomas Krichel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deuwaus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.