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The Long-Run Evolution of Infrastructure Services

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  • Hugh Goldsmith

Abstract

This paper traces the 11,000 year evolution of infrastructure systems during major periods of innovation, expansion and diffusion. Throughout history, the key role of the State is self-evident. Private sector involvement has waxed and waned over millennia, although at times it has been pivotal in bringing innovation, taking risks and driving efficiency. It is argued that positive feedback between early capital market development and investment in infrastructure innovations that lowered system-wide transaction costs has been a critical factor in sustaining growth since 1800. The paper sets out a model of infrastructure innovation cycles, stressing that only an evolutionary, multi-disciplinary, systems approach embracing technology, finance, and institutions can capture such long term, complex dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Hugh Goldsmith, 2014. "The Long-Run Evolution of Infrastructure Services," CESifo Working Paper Series 5073, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5073
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sedlmeir, Joachim & Hopf, Stefan & Neuburger, Rahild & Picot, Arnold, 2017. "Convergent Digital Infrastructures and the Role of (Net-)Neutrality," 28th European Regional ITS Conference, Passau 2017 169497, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Hugh GOLDSMITH & Dan CARTER, 2015. "Financing the Evolution of London’s Water Services: 1582 to 1904," Departmental Working Papers 2015-02, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    infrastructure; evolutionary economics; innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • N70 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - General, International, or Comparative

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