IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v88y2021ics0739885920301256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transportation infrastructure and employment: Are all investments created equal?

Author

Listed:
  • Sobieralski, Joseph B.

Abstract

This study examines the impact of different transportation infrastructure investments on employment in 11 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the United States from 1990 to 2018. Using spatial econometric techniques to analyze highway, air transport and railway infrastructure investments, this study finds that the employment effects of these investments vary widely across MSAs. Highway infrastructure is found to have positive, significant total effects on employment in most MSAs. Railway infrastructure investment has positive employment effects in MSAs with robust rail systems and high ridership. Air transport infrastructure investment results are mixed across MSAs and specification, but consistently provide small positive employment effects to landlocked Midwestern MSAs. Overall, highway infrastructure investment is found to provide the largest total effects on employment, but caution should be taken to account for spillover effects and other societal externalities related to transportation.

Suggested Citation

  • Sobieralski, Joseph B., 2021. "Transportation infrastructure and employment: Are all investments created equal?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:88:y:2021:i:c:s0739885920301256
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100927
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885920301256
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100927?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Taylor Jaworski & Carl T. Kitchens, 2019. "National Policy for Regional Development: Historical Evidence from Appalachian Highways," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 777-790, December.
    2. Mera, Koichi, 1973. "II. Regional production functions and social overhead capital: An analysis of the Japanese case," Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 157-185, May.
    3. Chen, Zhenhua & Xue, Junbo & Rose, Adam Z. & Haynes, Kingsley E., 2016. "The impact of high-speed rail investment on economic and environmental change in China: A dynamic CGE analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 232-245.
    4. Douglas Holtz-Eakin & Amy Schwartz, 1995. "Spatial productivity spillovers from public infrastructure: Evidence from state highways," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 2(3), pages 459-468, October.
    5. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    6. Melo, Patricia C. & Graham, Daniel J. & Brage-Ardao, Ruben, 2013. "The productivity of transport infrastructure investment: A meta-analysis of empirical evidence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 695-706.
    7. Jan K. Brueckner, 2003. "Airline Traffic and Urban Economic Development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1455-1469, July.
    8. Justin Tyndall, 2017. "Waiting for the R train: Public transportation and employment," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(2), pages 520-537, February.
    9. G. Jud & Daniel Winkler, 2006. "The Announcement Effect of an Airport Expansion on Housing Prices," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 91-103, September.
    10. Zhang, Anming & Wan, Yulai & Yang, Hangjun, 2019. "Impacts of high-speed rail on airlines, airports and regional economies: A survey of recent research," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-19.
    11. Fageda, Xavier & Gonzalez-Aregall, Marta, 2017. "Do all transport modes impact on industrial employment? Empirical evidence from the Spanish regions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 70-78.
    12. Garin, Andrew, 2019. "Putting America to work, where? Evidence on the effectiveness of infrastructure construction as a locally targeted employment policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 108-131.
    13. Blonigen, Bruce A. & Cristea, Anca D., 2015. "Air service and urban growth: Evidence from a quasi-natural policy experiment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 128-146.
    14. 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.
    15. Crain, W Mark & Oakley, Lisa K, 1995. "The Politics of Infrastructure," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Jose M. Carbo & Daniel J. Graham & Anupriya & Daniel Casas & Patricia C. Melo, 2019. "Evaluating the causal economic impacts of transport investments: evidence from the Madrid–Barcelona high speed rail corridor," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(9), pages 1714-1723, July.
    17. Jeffrey P. Cohen & Catherine J. Morrison Paul, 2004. "Public Infrastructure Investment, Interstate Spatial Spillovers, and Manufacturing Costs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 551-560, May.
    18. Piyapong Jiwattanakulpaisarn & Robert B. Noland & Daniel J. Graham & John W. Polak, 2009. "Highway Infrastructure Investment And County Employment Growth: A Dynamic Panel Regression Analysis," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 263-286, May.
    19. Marco Percoco, 2010. "Airport Activity and Local Development: Evidence from Italy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(11), pages 2427-2443, October.
    20. Gong, Xiaodong & Gao, Jiti & Liang, Xuan, 2019. "Inter-City Spillover and Intra-City Agglomeration Effects among Local Labour Markets in China," IZA Discussion Papers 12329, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Filipe Campante & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2018. "Long-Range Growth: Economic Development in the Global Network of Air Links," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1395-1458.
    22. Michael Greenstone & Richard Hornbeck & Enrico Moretti, 2010. "Identifying Agglomeration Spillovers: Evidence from Winners and Losers of Large Plant Openings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 536-598, June.
    23. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2012. "Urban Growth and Transportation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(4), pages 1407-1440.
    24. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ponzetto, Giacomo A.M., 2018. "The political economy of transportation investment," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 4-26.
    25. Sylvain Leduc & Daniel Wilson, 2017. "Are State Governments Roadblocks to Federal Stimulus? Evidence on the Flypaper Effect of Highway Grants in the 2009 Recovery Act," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 253-292, May.
    26. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    27. Agbelie, Bismark R.D.K., 2014. "An empirical analysis of three econometric frameworks for evaluating economic impacts of transportation infrastructure expenditures across countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 304-310.
    28. Enrico Moretti, 2004. "Workers' Education, Spillovers, and Productivity: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 656-690, June.
    29. Nicholas Sheard, 2019. "Airport Size and Urban Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(342), pages 300-335, April.
    30. Alicia H. Munnell, 1990. "How does public infrastructure affect regional economic performance?," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 34, pages 69-112.
    31. Chen, Zhenhua & Haynes, Kingsley E., 2017. "Impact of high-speed rail on regional economic disparity in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 80-91.
    32. Sheard, Nicholas, 2014. "Airports and urban sectoral employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 133-152.
    33. Glaeser, Edward L & Mare, David C, 2001. "Cities and Skills," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 316-342, April.
    34. Douglas R. Dalenberg & Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman, 1998. "Public Infrastructure: Pork or Jobs Creator?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 26(1), pages 24-52, January.
    35. Ian W. H. Parry & Kenneth A. Small, 2005. "Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1276-1289, September.
    36. Jeffrey P. Cohen & Cletus C. Coughlin, 2009. "Changing Noise Levels and Housing Prices Near the Atlanta Airport," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 287-313, June.
    37. Brugnoli, Alberto & Dal Bianco, Antonio & Martini, Gianmaria & Scotti, Davide, 2018. "The impact of air transportation on trade flows: A natural experiment on causality applied to Italy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 95-107.
    38. Harry J. Holzer & John M. Quigley & Steven Raphael, 2003. "Public transit and the spatial distribution of minority employment: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(3), pages 415-441.
    39. Laird, James J. & Nellthorp, John & Mackie, Peter J., 2005. "Network effects and total economic impact in transport appraisal," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 537-544, November.
    40. Marco Salvi, 2008. "Spatial Estimation of the Impact of Airport Noise on Residential Housing Prices," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 144(IV), pages 577-606, December.
    41. Yamaguchi, Katsuhiro, 2007. "Inter-regional air transport accessibility and macro-economic performance in Japan," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 247-258, May.
    42. Sheard, Nicholas, 2014. "Airports and urban sectoral employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 133-152.
    43. Volodymyr Bilotkach, 2015. "Are airports engines of economic development? A dynamic panel data approach," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(9), pages 1577-1593, July.
    44. Bollinger, Christopher R. & Ihlanfeldt, Keith R., 1997. "The Impact of Rapid Rail Transit on Economic Development: The Case of Atlanta's MARTA," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 179-204, September.
    45. Bollinger, Christopher R. & Ihlanfeldt, Keith R., 2003. "The intraurban spatial distribution of employment: which government interventions make a difference?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 396-412, May.
    46. Tveter, Eivind, 2017. "The effect of airports on regional development: Evidence from the construction of regional airports in Norway," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 50-58.
    47. Cohen, Jeffrey P. & Morrison Paul, Catherine J., 2003. "Airport infrastructure spillovers in a network system," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 459-473, November.
    48. Nelson, Arthur C. & Stoker, Philip & Hibberd, Robert, 2019. "Light rail transit and economic recovery: A case of resilience or transformation?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 2-9.
    49. Rashid Khan, Haroon Ur & Siddique, Muhammad & Zaman, Khalid & Yousaf, Sheikh Usman & Shoukry, Alaa Mohamd & Gani, Showkat & Sasmoko, & Khan, Aqeel & Hishan, Sanil S. & Saleem, Hummera, 2018. "The impact of air transportation, railways transportation, and port container traffic on energy demand, customs duty, and economic growth: Evidence from a panel of low-, middle-, and high -income coun," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 18-35.
    50. McGraw, Marquise J., 2020. "The role of airports in city employment growth, 1950–2010," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    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. Yang Lu & Longji Zeng, 2022. "How Do High-Speed Railways Facilitate High-Quality Urban Development: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Nannan Yu & Tianhang Cui & Si Lv, 2023. "Does the High-Speed Rail Improve Employment in Peripheral Cities? Evidence From China’s Beijing–Shanghai HSR Line," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    3. Shichao Yuan & Xizhuo Wang, 2024. "Increase or Reduce: How Does Rural Infrastructure Investment Affect Villagers’ Income?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-21, December.

    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. Lenaerts, Bert & Allroggen, Florian & Malina, Robert, 2021. "The economic impact of aviation: A review on the role of market access," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Fageda, Xavier & Gonzalez-Aregall, Marta, 2017. "Do all transport modes impact on industrial employment? Empirical evidence from the Spanish regions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 70-78.
    3. Xavier Fageda & Marta Gonzalez-Aregall, 2014. "“The Spatial effects of transportation on industrial employment ”," IREA Working Papers 201429, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Nov 2014.
    4. Talebian, Ahmadreza & Zou, Bo & Hansen, Mark, 2018. "Assessing the impacts of state-supported rail services on local population and employment: A California case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 108-121.
    5. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2020. "Airports, access and local economic performance: evidence from China [Are Chinese cities too small?]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 903-937.
    6. Nicholas Sheard, 2021. "The network of US airports and its effects on employment," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 623-648, June.
    7. Xiaowen Fu & Kan Wai Hong Tsui & Breno Sampaio & David Tan, 2021. "Do airport activities affect regional economies? Regional analysis of New Zealand’s airport system," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 707-722, April.
    8. Pot, Felix Johan & Koster, Sierdjan, 2022. "Small airports: Runways to regional economic growth?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Anca D. Cristea, 2023. "The role of aviation networks for urban development," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 947-980, September.
    10. Carbo, Jose M. & Graham, Daniel J., 2020. "Quantifying the impacts of air transportation on economic productivity: a quasi-experimental causal analysis," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    11. Chen, Xin & Xuan, Chao & Qiu, Rui, 2021. "Understanding spatial spillover effects of airports on economic development: New evidence from China’s hub airports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 48-60.
    12. Luisa Doerr & Florian Dorn & Stefanie Gaebler & Niklas Potrafke, 2020. "How new airport infrastructure promotes tourism: evidence from a synthetic control approach in German regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1402-1412, October.
    13. Konno, Akio & Kato, Hironori & Takeuchi, Wataru & Kiguchi, Riku, 2021. "Global evidence on productivity effects of road infrastructure incorporating spatial spillover effects," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 167-182.
    14. Alderighi, Marco & Gaggero, Alberto A., 2017. "Fly and trade: Evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 51-60.
    15. Philipp Breidenbach, 2020. "Ready for take-off? The economic effects of regional airport expansions in Germany," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(8), pages 1084-1097, July.
    16. Florian Mayneris, 2017. "Effets des infrastructures de transport sur le niveau et la localisation des activités économiques," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017023, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    17. Nicholas Sheard, 2019. "Airport Size and Urban Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(342), pages 300-335, April.
    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. Bernardo, Valeria & Fageda, Xavier, 2019. "Globalization, long-haul flights and inter-city connections," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 1-1.
    20. McGraw, Marquise J., 2020. "The role of airports in city employment growth, 1950–2010," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transportation; Highways; Railways; Airports; Infrastructure; Employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning

    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:eee:retrec:v:88:y:2021:i:c:s0739885920301256. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    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.