IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mil/wpdepa/2008-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Infrastructure and growth in the European Union: an empirical analysis at the regional level in a spatial framework

Author

Listed:
  • Chiara DEL BO
  • Massimo FLORIO

Abstract

In this paper we examine the return of public investment in the EU regions. We consider different forms of infrastructure capital by examining the relationship between a set of infrastructure indicators and economic performance at the NUTS2 level with an empirical model derived from the production-function approach. From a social planner’s perspective, we want to see which form of infrastructure investment has higher returns, considering structural differences in regions. The main contribution of this paper is to consider the impact of different types of infrastructure on growth, disaggregated at the regional level in the European Union, with an explicit focus on the New Member States, and correcting for spatial dependence and heterogeneity issues. We find that the highest rates of return are associated mainly with TLC, quality and accessibility of the region’s transportation network, while endowment of traditional road and railway infrastructure has a positive but slightly lower impact. We also contribute to the debate on convergence, finding that the β-convergence hypothesis holds also when the model encompasses several controls.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara DEL BO & Massimo FLORIO, 2008. "Infrastructure and growth in the European Union: an empirical analysis at the regional level in a spatial framework," Departmental Working Papers 2008-37, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
  • Handle: RePEc:mil:wpdepa:2008-37
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.demm.unimi.it/files/wp/2008/DEMM-2008_037wp.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enrique López‐Bazo & Esther Vayá & Manuel Artís, 2004. "Regional Externalities And Growth: Evidence From European Regions," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 43-73, February.
    2. Lars-Hendrik Roller & Leonard Waverman, 2001. "Telecommunications Infrastructure and Economic Development: A Simultaneous Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 909-923, September.
    3. David Alan Aschauer, 2000. "Do states optimize? Public capital and economic growth," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 34(3), pages 343-363.
    4. Charles R. Hulten, 1996. "Infrastructure Capital and Economic Growth: How Well You Use It May Be More Important Than How Much You Have," NBER Working Papers 5847, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Quah, Danny T., 1996. "Regional convergence clusters across Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 951-958, April.
    6. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    7. Gramlich, Edward M, 1994. "Infrastructure Investment: A Review Essay," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 1176-1196, September.
    8. Angel de la Fuente, "undated". "The effect of Structural Fund spending on the Spanish regions: an assessment of the 1994-99 Objective 1 CSF," Working Papers 2003-11, FEDEA.
    9. 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.
    10. John G. Fernald, 1999. "Roads to Prosperity? Assessing the Link between Public Capital and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 619-638, June.
    11. Easterly, William & Rebelo, Sergio, 1993. "Fiscal policy and economic growth: An empirical investigation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 417-458, December.
    12. Harry H. Kelejian & Dennis P. Robinson, 1997. "Infrastructure Productivity Estimation And Its Underlying Econometric Specifications: A Sensitivity Analysis," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 115-131, January.
    13. Costas Megir & Danny Quah, 1996. "Regional Convergence Clusters Across Europe," CEP Discussion Papers dp0274, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Jan-Egbert Sturm, 1998. "Public Capital Expenditure in OECD Countries," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1500.
    15. Matilde Mas & Joaquin Maudos & Francisco Perez & Ezequiel Uriel, 1996. "Infrastructures and Productivity in the Spanish Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 641-649.
    16. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Squire, Lyn & Suthiwart-Narueput, Sethaput, 1997. "Beyond Rate of Return: Reorienting Project Appraisal," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 12(1), pages 35-46, February.
    17. 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.
    18. J. M. Albala‐Bertrand & E. C. Mamatzakis, 2007. "The Impact Of Disaggregated Infrastructure Capital On The Productivity Growth Of The Chilean Economy," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(2), pages 258-273, March.
    19. Ward Romp & Jakob De Haan, 2007. "Public Capital and Economic Growth: A Critical Survey," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(S1), pages 6-52, April.
    20. Aadne Cappelen & Fulvio Castellacci & Jan Fagerberg & Bart Verspagen, 2003. "The Impact of EU Regional Support on Growth and Convergence in the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 621-644, September.
    21. Quah, Danny, 1996. "Regional Convergence Clusters Across Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 1286, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. 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. Andrea Bonilla Bolaños, 2017. "Initiative for Infrastructure Integration in South America: Way Toward Regional Convergence," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 326-354, April.
    2. Andrea Bonilla Bolaños, 2016. "A step further in the theory of regional integration: A look at the Unasur's integration strategy," Working Papers 1617, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    3. Caragliu, A. & Del Bo, C. & Nijkamp, P., 2009. "Smart cities in Europe," Serie Research Memoranda 0048, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    4. Massimo Florio (ed.), 2011. "Public Investment, Growth and Fiscal Constraints," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14155.
    5. Alberto BUCCI & Chiara DEL BO, 2009. "On the interaction between public investment and private capital in economic growth," Departmental Working Papers 2009-44, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    6. Chiara DEL BO, 2009. "Recent advances in public investment, fiscal policy and growth," Departmental Working Papers 2009-25, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    7. Charles Figuières & Fabien Prieur & Mabel Tidball, 2013. "Public infrastructure, noncooperative investments, and endogenous growth," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(2), pages 587-610, May.
    8. Víctor Adame & Javier Alonso & Luisa Pérez & David Tuesta, 2017. "Infrastructure & economic growth from a meta-analysis approach: do all roads lead to Rome?," Working Papers 17/07, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    9. Andrea Bonilla‐Bolaños, 2021. "A step further in the theory of regional integration: A look at the South American integration strategy," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 845-873, July.
    10. Jelena Stankoviæ & Marija Džuniæ & Željko Džuniæ & Srðan Marinkoviæ, 2017. "A multi-criteria evaluation of the European cities’ smart performance: Economic, social and environmental aspects," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 35(2), pages 519-550.
    11. Victor Medeiros & Rafael Saulo Marques Ribeiro & Pedro Vasconcelos Maia do Amaral, 2019. "Infrastructure and income inequality: an application to the brazilian case using hierarchical spatial autoregressive models," Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG 608, Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

    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. Angel De la Fuente, 2010. "Infrastructures and productivity: an updated survey," Working Papers 1018, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    2. Stephane Straub, 2008. "Infrastructure and Growth in Developing Countries: Recent Advances and Research Challenges," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 179, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    3. Ward Romp & Jakob De Haan, 2007. "Public Capital and Economic Growth: A Critical Survey," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(S1), pages 6-52, April.
    4. Silvia Bertarelli, 2006. "Public capital and growth," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 361-398.
    5. Chiara Del Bo & Massimo Florio & Giancarlo Manzi, 2010. "Regional Infrastructure and Convergence: Growth Implications in a Spatial Framework," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 17(3), pages 475-493, September.
    6. Stephane Straub, 2011. "Infrastructure and Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Macro-level Literature," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 683-708.
    7. Francisco Rodríguez, 2006. "Have Collapses in Infrastructure Spending Led to Cross-Country Divergence in per Capita GDP?," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2006-013, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    8. Chiara DEL BO, 2009. "Recent advances in public investment, fiscal policy and growth," Departmental Working Papers 2009-25, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    9. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    10. Barabas, György & Kitlinski, Tobias & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Schmidt, Torsten & Siemers, Lars-H. & Brilon, Werner, 2010. "Verkehrsinfrastrukturinvestitionen: Wachstumsaspekte im Rahmen einer gestaltenden Finanzpolitik. Endbericht - Januar 2010. Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen. Projektnumm," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 72601.
    11. Rosina Moreno & Enrique López-Bazo & Esther Vayá & Manuel Artís, 2004. "External Effects and Cost of Production," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Luc Anselin & Raymond J. G. M. Florax & Sergio J. Rey (ed.), Advances in Spatial Econometrics, chapter 14, pages 297-317, Springer.
    12. Sahoo, Pravakar & Dash, Ranjan Kumar & Nataraj, Geethanjali, 2010. "Infrastructure development and economic growth in China," IDE Discussion Papers 261, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    13. Farhadi, Minoo, 2015. "Transport infrastructure and long-run economic growth in OECD countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-90.
    14. Park, Jin Suk & Seo, Young-Joon & Ha, Min-Ho, 2019. "The role of maritime, land, and air transportation in economic growth: Panel evidence from OECD and non-OECD countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Urrunaga, Roberto & Aparicio, Carlos, 2012. "Infrastructure and economic growth in Peru," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    16. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Yannis Psycharis & Vassilis Tselios, 2012. "Public investment and regional growth and convergence: Evidence from Greece," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 543-568, August.
    17. Gilbert Colletaz & Christophe Hurlin, 2006. "Threshold Effects of the Public Capital Productivity : An International Panel Smooth Transition Approach," Working Papers halshs-00008056, HAL.
    18. Elburz, Zeynep & Nijkamp, Peter & Pels, Eric, 2017. "Public infrastructure and regional growth: Lessons from meta-analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-8.
    19. repec:dau:papers:123456789/1648 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Márquez, Miguel A. & Ramajo, Julián & Hewings, Geoffrey J. D., 2011. "Public Capital and Regional Economic Growth: a SVAR Approach for the Spanish Regions," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 21, pages 199-223.
    21. Giulia FELICE, 2009. "Size and composition of public investment, structural change and growth," Departmental Working Papers 2009-28, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano, revised 27 Dec 2011.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Infrastructure capital; regional growth; convergence; spatial econometrics.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:mil:wpdepa:2008-37. 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: DEMM Working Papers (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/damilit.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.