Interregional Transport Infrastructures And Regional Development: A Methodological Approach

Transport infrastructures and economic development lie under a symbiotic relation, which is both theoretically and empirically evident and studied, at all levels of geographical and administrative scale. Building on the conceptual framework theoretically discussed in a previous work of the authors, this paper goes beyond current approaches and develops an integrated methodological framework for an ex-ante quantitative assessment of the (direct and indirect) effects of interregional transport infrastructures on spatial economies. To do so, it first applies a brief literature review to the main relevant methodologies, next describes the proposed methodological framework, and finally discusses each framework's component separately. The proposed methodology builds on an input-output (I-O) model conceptualization and contributes to the current literature by (i) integrating direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts; (ii) separating distributive and generative effects for each region; (iii) providing individual estimations based on spatial interdependence or econometric models; (iv) distinguishing cases for trade coefficients' estimation; (v) investigating the impact on the choice of the location of enterprises' establishment; (vi) assessing the effects of transport infrastructure on tourism; and (vii) incorporating technology "diffusion" from centers to regions. The overall approach is broadly applicable and can motivate empirical research, by providing insights into estimating the contribution of transportation infrastructures' construction to a regional economy, along with a decision-making tool for transport policy, regional planning, and economic growth.