IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rar/journl/0231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Macroeconomic Impact of Infrastructures: A Literature Review and Empirical Analysis on the Case of Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Valter Di Giacinto
  • Giacinto Micucci
  • Pasqualino Montanaro

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the macroeconomic impact of infrastructures through review of the literature, meta-analysis and empirical analysis of the Italian data. We report a general consensus over the positive effects of infrastructures, even though the results are affected by the estimation techniques adopted. The empirical exercise on the Italian data shows that public capital has effectively exerted positive long-run effects on growth, also fostering private investment. Nevertheless, the results should not be taken as a general prompt to increase investment, the effects depending mainly on the efficiency of the spending and production process.

Suggested Citation

  • Valter Di Giacinto & Giacinto Micucci & Pasqualino Montanaro, 2012. "The Macroeconomic Impact of Infrastructures: A Literature Review and Empirical Analysis on the Case of Italy," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 1, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:rar:journl:0231
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=44674&Tipo=Articolo%20PDF&lingua=en
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mitsuhiko Kataoka, 2005. "Effect Of Public Investment On The Regional Economies In Postwar Japan," Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(2), pages 115-139, July.
    2. 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.
    3. Kevin T. Duffy-Deno & Randall W. Eberts, 1996. "Public Infrastructure and Regional Economic Development: A Simultaneous Equations Approach," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Niles Hansen & Kenneth J. Button & Peter Nijkamp (ed.),Regional Policy and Regional Integration, pages 295-309, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    4. Farrokh Nourzad, 2000. "The productivity effect of government capital in developing and industrialized countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(9), pages 1181-1187.
    5. Jerome Creel & Gwenaelle Poilon, 2008. "Is public capital productive in Europe?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(6), pages 673-691.
    6. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    7. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    8. Miriam A. Golden & Lucio Picci, 2005. "Proposal For A New Measure Of Corruption, Illustrated With Italian Data," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 37-75, March.
    9. Bajo-Rubio, Oscar & Sosvilla-Rivero, Simon, 1993. "Does public capital affect private sector performance? : An analysis of the Spanish case, 1964-1988," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 179-185, July.
    10. Miguel St. Aubyn & Álvaro Manuel Pina, 2006. "How should we measure the return on public investment in a VAR?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 8(5), pages 1-4.
    11. Pereira, Alfredo Marvao & Roca-Sagales, Oriol, 2003. "Spillover effects of public capital formation: evidence from the Spanish regions," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 238-256, March.
    12. Morrison, Catherine J & Schwartz, Amy Ellen, 1996. "State Infrastructure and Productive Performance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1095-1111, December.
    13. Manh Vu Le & Terukazu Suruga, 2005. "Foreign direct investment, public expenditure and economic growth: the empirical evidence for the period 1970-2001," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 45-49.
    14. 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.
    15. Nijkamp, Peter, 1986. "Infrastructure and Regional Development: A Multidimensional Policy Analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21.
    16. Wim P. M. Vijverberg & Chu-Ping C. Vijverberg & Janet L. Gamble, 1997. "Public Capital And Private Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(2), pages 267-278, May.
    17. Mercedes Gumbau Albert & Joaquín Maudos Villarroya & Pedro Cantos, 2002. "Transport Infrastructures And Regional Growth: Evidence Of The Spanish Case," Working Papers. Serie EC 2002-27, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    18. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas & Lovely, Mary E., 1996. "Scale economies, returns to variety, and the productivity of public infrastructure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 105-123, April.
    19. Mary G. Finn, 1993. "Is all government capital productive?," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Fall, pages 53-80.
    20. Catherine Kavanagh, 1997. "Public capital and private sector productivity in Ireland, 1958-1990," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 24(1/2), pages 72-94, January.
    21. Robert Eisner, 1991. "Infrastructure and regional economic performance: comment," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Sep, pages 47-58.
    22. Richard H. Clarida, 1993. "International Capital Mobility, Public Investment and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 4506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Raymond Batina, 1998. "On the Long Run Effects of Public Capital and Disaggregated Public Capital on Aggregate Output," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 5(3), pages 263-281, July.
    24. P. Montanaro, 2003. "Lo stock di capitale pubblico: una stima per regione e per tipologia di bene," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 423-462.
    25. Baltagi, Badi H & Pinnoi, Nat, 1995. "Public Capital Stock and State Productivity Growth: Further Evidence from an Error Components Model," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 351-359.
    26. Berndt, Ernst & Hansson, Bengt, 1992. "Measuring the Contribution of Capital in Sweden," Working Paper Series 365, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    27. Otto, Glenn & Voss, Graham, 1996. "Public Capital and Private Production in Australia," MPRA Paper 52110, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    28. Ram, Rati & Ramsey, David D., 1989. "Government capital and private output in the United States : Additional evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 223-226, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Pedro R.D. Bom & Jenny E. Ligthart, 2009. "How Productive is Public Capital? A Meta-Regression Analysis," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0912, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    2. Alfredo M. Pereira & Jorge M. Andraz, 2013. "On The Economic Effects Of Public Infrastructure Investment: A Survey Of The International Evidence," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 1-37, December.
    3. Pedro R.D. Bom & Jenny E. Ligthart, 2014. "What Have We Learned From Three Decades Of Research On The Productivity Of Public Capital?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 889-916, December.
    4. Duarte Bom, P.R. & Ligthart, J.E., 2008. "How Productive is Public Capital? A Meta-Analysis," Other publications TiSEM d047a0f9-233d-4d1e-b5b5-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Duarte Bom, P.R. & Ligthart, J.E., 2008. "How Productive is Public Capital? A Meta-Analysis," Discussion Paper 2008-10, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    6. Holmgren, Johan & Merkel, Axel, 2017. "Much ado about nothing? – A meta-analysis of the relationship between infrastructure and economic growth," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 13-26.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Federici, Andrea, 2018. "Il rapporto tra capitale pubblico e altre variabili macroeconomiche: analisi della letteratura [The relationship between public capital and other macroeconomic variable: a literature review]," MPRA Paper 88515, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Andreas Stephan, 2003. "Assessing the contribution of public capital to private production: Evidence from the German manufacturing sector," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 399-417.
    11. Zhenhua Chen & Kingsley E. Haynes, 2015. "Regional Impact of Public Transportation Infrastructure," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(3), pages 275-291, August.
    12. Nikos Benos & Nikolaos Mylonidis & Stefania Zotou, 2017. "Estimating production functions for the US states: the role of public and human capital," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 691-721, March.
    13. Silvia Bertarelli, 2006. "Public capital and growth," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 361-398.
    14. Valter Di Giacinto & Giacinto Micucci & Pasqualino Montanaro, 2012. "Network effects of public transport infrastructure: Evidence on Italian regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 515-541, August.
    15. Bronzini, Raffaello & Piselli, Paolo, 2009. "Determinants of long-run regional productivity with geographical spillovers: The role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 187-199, March.
    16. Marie-Ange VEGANZONES-VAROUDAKIS, 2000. "Infrastructures, investissement et croissance : un bilan de dix années de recherches," Working Papers 200007, CERDI.
    17. Jerome Creel & Paola Monperrus-Veroni & Francesco Saraceno, 2007. "Has the Golden Rule of Public Finance Made a Difference in the UK ?," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2007-13, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    18. Brian A. Mikelbank & Randall W. Jackson, 2000. "The Role of Space in Public Capital Research," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 23(3), pages 235-258, July.
    19. Raffaello Bronzini & Paolo Piselli, 2006. "Determinants of long-run regional productivity: the role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 597, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    20. William F. Fox & Sanela Porca, 2001. "Investing in Rural Infrastructure," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 24(1), pages 103-133, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public capital; Economic growth;

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    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:rar:journl:0231. 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: the person in charge The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask the person in charge to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rossiea.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.