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The impact of infrastructure investments on income inequality: Evidence from US states

Author

Listed:
  • Emma Hooper

    (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Sanjay Peters

    (Columbia University [New York])

  • Patrick A. Pintus

    (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Our analysis of US state-level data on an annual frequency, from 1976 to 2008, sheds new light on a plausible causal link between infrastructure investments, namely public spending on highways, and income inequality. This causal relationship is drawn out using the number of seats in the US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations (HRCA) as an instrument to identify quasi-random variations in state-level spending on highways. An exogenous pattern which emerges when a state gains an additional member to the HRCA is that it is allocated with new federal grants. This increase in federal transfers for infrastructure financing results in slashing of expenditures on highways and a crowding-out effect of federal funding for state investments on highways. Spending cuts on highways produced by a new HRCA member being attained by a state can unwittingly cause income inequality to rise over a short 2-year time horizon. Similar challenges with decentralized development to finance infrastructure via federal transfers to state and sub-national governments may be encountered by other industrially advanced, emerging and low-income developing economies. US data over the mentioned period reveal a strong positive correlation with state spending on highways and wages paid for construction jobs. Suggestive evidence indicates that the construction sector also plays an important role in the transmission channel from a rise in state spending on highways to lowering income inequality, albeit during specific intervals, as opposed to on a long-term basis.

Suggested Citation

  • Emma Hooper & Sanjay Peters & Patrick A. Pintus, 2021. "The impact of infrastructure investments on income inequality: Evidence from US states," Post-Print halshs-03015354, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03015354
    DOI: 10.1111/ecot.12266
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Yijia & Cheng, Lu, 2023. "The role of transport infrastructure in economic growth: Empirical evidence in the UK," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 223-233.
    2. Jiayuan Cai & Zilin Deng & Linna Li, 2024. "The spatial impact of high bridges on travel accessibility and economic integration in Guizhou, China: a scenario-based analysis," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Muhammad Hidayat & Nasri Bachtiar & Sjafrizal Sjafrizal & Elvina Primayesa, 2022. "Does Investment and Energy Infrastructure Influence Convergence in Sumatra Island, Indonesia?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 274-281, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • O51 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - U.S.; Canada

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