IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/spmain/hal-03607615.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is Public Capital Productive in Europe?

Author

Listed:
  • Jérôme Creel

    (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po)

  • Gwenaelle Poilon

    (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po)

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of whether and by how much public investment or public capital can enhance economic performance. In comparison with the literature on the subject, we apply many different methodologies to answer these questions. A VAR model (for France, Italy, Germany, the UK and the USA), a panel composed of 6 European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands) and a regional panel (French regions) are therefore estimated. Public investment is shown to be a significant determinant of output; this is also true for public capital but to a lesser extent than public investment with a VAR methodology. The size of the estimated coefficient is also more realistic than those obtained in the literature. This empirical result confirms that the focus of some economists on safeguarding the level of public investment is not misplaced. The debate on the introduction of a "golden rule of public finance" in EMU is legitimate.

Suggested Citation

  • Jérôme Creel & Gwenaelle Poilon, 2006. "Is Public Capital Productive in Europe?," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03607615, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03607615
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03607615
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03607615/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Aarle, Bas & Garretsen, Harry, 2003. "Keynesian, non-Keynesian or no effects of fiscal policy changes? The EMU case," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 213-240, June.
    2. Gilbert COLLETAZ & Christophe HURLIN, 2006. "Threshold Effects of the Public Capital Productivity : An International Panel Smooth Transition Approach," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 1669, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    3. Christophe Kamps, 2005. "The Dynamic Effects of Public Capital: VAR Evidence for 22 OECD Countries," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 533-558, August.
    4. Roel Beetsma, 2001. "Does EMU Need a Stability Pact?," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Anne Brunila & Marco Buti & Daniele Franco (ed.), The Stability and Growth Pact, chapter 2, pages 23-52, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. Christophe Kamps, 2006. "New Estimates of Government Net Capital Stocks for 22 OECD Countries, 1960-2001," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 53(1), pages 1-6.
    6. 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.
    7. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Jaypee Sevilla, 2001. "The Effect of Health on Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 8587, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    9. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/2975 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Arestis, Philip & McCauley, Kevin & Sawyer, Malcolm, 2001. "An Alternative Stability Pact for the European Union," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 25(1), pages 113-130, January.
    11. Jérôme Creel, 2003. "Ranking Fiscal Policy Rules: the Golden Rule of Public Finance vs. the Stability and Growth Pact," Working Papers hal-00972778, HAL.
    12. Manuel Balmaseda, 1997. "Production Function Analysis of the Rate of Return on Public Capital," Working Papers wp1997_9707, CEMFI.
    13. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    14. Federico Bonaglia & Eliana La Ferrara & Massimiliano Marcellino, 2000. "Public Capital and Economic Performance: Evidence from Italy," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 59(2), pages 221-244, September.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2975 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Blanchard, Olivier, 1997. "Is There a Core of Usable Macroeconomics?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 244-246, May.
    17. Lucio Picci, 1999. "Productivity and Infrastructure in the Italian Regions," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 58(3-4), pages 329-353, December.
    18. Richard H. Clarida, 1993. "International Capital Mobility, Public Investment and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 4506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Philip Arestis & Malcolm Sawyer, 2005. "Reinventing Fiscal Policy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Blandine Laperche & Dimitri Uzunidis (ed.), John Kenneth Galbraith and the Future of Economics, chapter 9, pages 105-125, Palgrave Macmillan.
    20. Alan S. Blinder, 2000. "Central-Bank Credibility: Why Do We Care? How Do We Build It?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1421-1431, December.
    21. A. Lans Bovenberg & Jeroen J. M. Kremers & Paul R. Masson, 1991. "Economic and Monetary Union in Europe and Constraints on National Budgetary Policies," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 38(2), pages 374-398, June.
    22. Randall W. Eberts, 1986. "Estimating the contribution of urban public infrastructure to regional growth," Working Papers (Old Series) 8610, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    23. Coricelli, Fabrizio & Ercolani, Valerio, 2002. "Cyclical and Structural Deficits on the Road to Accession: Fiscal Rules for an Enlarged European Union," CEPR Discussion Papers 3672, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    24. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/963 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. repec:bla:kyklos:v:50:y:1997:i:1:p:83-109 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/963 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Thomas Dalsgaard & Alain Serres, 2001. "Estimating Prudent Budgetary Margins," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Anne Brunila & Marco Buti & Daniele Franco (ed.), The Stability and Growth Pact, chapter 9, pages 204-234, Palgrave Macmillan.
    28. 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.
    29. Michael Bleaney & Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller, 2001. "Testing the endogenous growth model: public expenditure, taxation, and growth over the long run," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 34(1), pages 36-57, February.
    30. Blanchard, Olivier & Giavazzi, Francesco, 2004. "Improving the SGP Through a Proper Accounting of Public Investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 4220, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    31. Isabel Argimón & José M. González-Páramo & María J. Martín & José M. Roldán, 1993. "Productivity and Infrastructure in the Spanish Economy," Working Papers 9313, Banco de España.
    32. Fabrizio Balassone & Daniele Franco, 2000. "Public investment, the Stability Pact and the ‘golden rule’," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 207-229, June.
    33. Ms. Jenny E Ligthart, 2000. "Public Capital and Output Growth in Portugal: An Empirical Analysis," IMF Working Papers 2000/011, International Monetary Fund.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Pedro R. D. Bom & Jenny Ligthart, 2008. "How Productive is Public Capital? A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 2206, CESifo.
    4. Jérôme Creel & Paul Hubert & Francesco Saraceno, 2013. "Assessing future sustainability of french public finances," Working Papers hal-01070452, HAL.
    5. Khanna, Rupika & Sharma, Chandan, 2021. "Does infrastructure stimulate total factor productivity? A dynamic heterogeneous panel analysis for Indian manufacturing industries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 59-73.
    6. 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.
    7. J. F. M. De Jong & M. Ferdinandusse & J. Funda, 2018. "Public capital in the 21st century: as productive as ever?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(51), pages 5543-5560, November.
    8. James Heintz, 2010. "The impact of public capital on the US private economy: new evidence and analysis," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(5), pages 619-632.
    9. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p5488g8pn is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Carmen D. Ã lvarez-Albelo, 2018. "A calibration of the output elasticity of public capital," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(2), pages 761-771.
    11. Cheam Chai Li & Rosli Mahmood & Hussin Abdullah & Ong Soon Chuan, 2013. "Economic Growth, Tourism and Selected Macroeconomic Variables: A Triangular Causal Relationship in Malaysia," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 7(2), pages 185-206, May.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p5488g8pn is not listed on IDEAS
    15. António Afonso & Jorge Caiado & Omar Al. Kanaan, 2024. "Public and Private Investments: A VAR Analysis of Their Impact on Economic Growth in 18 Advanced Economies," Working Papers REM 2024/0350, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    16. Mohammed N. Abu Alfoul & Ayman Hassan Bazhair & Ibrahim N. Khatatbeh & Adam G. Arian & Mahmoud N. Abu Al-Foul, 2024. "The Effect of Education on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Do Institutions Matter?," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, November.
    17. Linus Mattauch & Jan Siegmeier & Ottmar Edenhofer & Felix Creutzig, 2013. "Financing Public Capital through Land Rent Taxation: A Macroeconomic Henry George Theorem," CESifo Working Paper Series 4280, CESifo.
    18. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p5488g8pn is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Sergio Jiménez Ramírez & Jaime Sanaú Villarroya, 2011. "Infraestructuras y productividad industrial en Colombia," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, December.
    20. J. F. M. De Jong & M. Ferdinandusse & J. Funda, 2018. "Public capital in the 21st century: as productive as ever?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(51), pages 5543-5560, November.
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p5488g8pn is not listed 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. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/963 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/963 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/963 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/963 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Jerome Creel, 2003. "Ranking Fiscal Policy Rules: the Golden Rule of Public Finance vs. the Stability and Growth Pact," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2003-04, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    6. 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.
    7. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2975 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2975 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. 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.
    10. Silvia Bertarelli, 2006. "Public capital and growth," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 361-398.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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).
    14. Hans Pitlik & Michael Klien & Stefan Schiman-Vukan, 2017. "Stabilitätskonforme Berücksichtigung nachhaltiger öffentlicher Investitionen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60595.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2681 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Angel De la Fuente, 2010. "Infrastructures and productivity: an updated survey," Working Papers 1018, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    17. Jérôme Creel & Paola Monperrus-Veroni & Francesco Saraceno, 2006. "Estimating the Impact of Public Investment for the United Kingdom: Has the Golden Rule of Public Finance Made a Difference?," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03462186, HAL.
    18. Salvatore Amico Roxas & Antonio Cristofaro & Giuseppe Piroli, 2012. "Public Capital in the Private Sector of Italian Economy," EERI Research Paper Series EERI_RP_2012_19, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    19. 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.
    20. Heinz Handler & Andreas Knabe & Bertrand Koebel & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger & Sven Wehke, 2005. "The Impact of Public Budgets on Overall Productivity Growth," WIFO Working Papers 255, WIFO.
    21. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2681 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Leopold Diebalek & Doris Prammer, 2006. "Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 1, pages 78-109.
    23. Erasmo Papagni & Amedeo Lepore & Emanuele Felice & Anna Laura Baraldi & Maria Rosaria Alfano, 2018. "Public Investment and Growth Accelerations: The Case of Southern Italy, 1951-1995," EERI Research Paper Series EERI RP 2018/10, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    24. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/2975 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Bom, Pedro R.D. & Ligthart, Jenny E., 2014. "Public infrastructure investment, output dynamics, and balanced budget fiscal rules," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 334-354.
    26. Alexandru Minea & Patrick Villieu, 2009. "Borrowing to Finance Public Investment? The 'Golden Rule of Public Finance' Reconsidered in an Endogenous Growth Setting," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 30(1), pages 103-133, March.
    27. Doris Prammer & Lukas Reiss, 2017. "Three small essays on public investment: economic rationales, the EU fiscal framework and some statistical comparisons," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q4/17, pages 32-47.
    28. Pedro R. D. Bom & Jenny Ligthart, 2008. "How Productive is Public Capital? A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 2206, CESifo.
    29. Brinca, Pedro, 2006. "The impact of public investment in Sweden: A VAR approach," MPRA Paper 62132, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    EMU; public investment; VAR model; UEM; investissement public; modèle VAR;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

    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:hal:spmain:hal-03607615. 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: Contact - Sciences Po Departement of Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.