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Profiting from Public Works: Financial Returns to Infrastructure and Investment Strategies during Britain's Industrial Revolution

Author

Listed:
  • Dan Bogart

    (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine)

Abstract

The infrastructure sector has the potential to generate wide differences in profits and economic outcomes. This paper examines financial returns and investment strategies for Britain’s turnpike roads in the early nineteenth century. There are three main findings. First, rates of return on capital invested and returns to bondholders were similar to competitive sectors. Second, there was significant variation in returns across trusts. Third, there is evidence that turnpike investors were driven by financial motives, although economic motives appear to be important in some cases. The findings have implications regarding the connection between infrastructure and Britain’s industrialization.

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Bogart, 2012. "Profiting from Public Works: Financial Returns to Infrastructure and Investment Strategies during Britain's Industrial Revolution," Working Papers 121304, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:irv:wpaper:121304
    as

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    File URL: https://www.economics.uci.edu/files/docs/workingpapers/2012-13/bogart-04.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. B. J. Buchanan, 1986. "The Evolution of the English Turnpike Trusts: Lessons from a Case Study," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 39(2), pages 223-243, May.
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    9. Klein, Daniel B, 1990. "The Voluntary Provision of Public Goods? The Turnpike Companies of Early America," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(4), pages 788-812, October.
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    13. Dan Bogart, 2009. "Turnpike trusts and property income: new evidence on the effects of transport improvements and legislation in eighteenth‐century England1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(1), pages 128-152, February.
    14. Bogart, Dan, 2005. "Did Turnpike Trusts Increase Transportation Investment in Eighteenth-Century England?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 439-468, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dan Bogart, 2013. "The Transportation Revolution in Industrializing Britain: A Survey," Working Papers 121306, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    2. Alex Trew, 2016. "Endogenous Infrastructure Development and Spatial Takeoff," CDMA Working Paper Series 201601, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised 17 Jan 2019.
    3. Thomas E. Lambert, 2024. "British Public Investment, Government Spending, Housing, and the Industrial Revolution: A Study of Governmental and Social Surplus Absorption," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(4), pages 1378-1401, October.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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