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Profiting from Public Works: Financial Returns to Infrastructure and Investment Strategies during Britain's Industrial Revolution

Author

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  • Dan Bogart

    (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine)

Abstract

The infrastructure sector has the potential to generate wide differences in profits and economic outcomes. This paper examines financial returns and investment strategies for Britain’s turnpike roads in the early nineteenth century. There are three main findings. First, rates of return on capital invested and returns to bondholders were similar to competitive sectors. Second, there was significant variation in returns across trusts. Third, there is evidence that turnpike investors were driven by financial motives, although economic motives appear to be important in some cases. The findings have implications regarding the connection between infrastructure and Britain’s industrialization.

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Bogart, 2012. "Profiting from Public Works: Financial Returns to Infrastructure and Investment Strategies during Britain's Industrial Revolution," Working Papers 121304, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:irv:wpaper:121304
    as

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    File URL: https://www.economics.uci.edu/files/docs/workingpapers/2012-13/bogart-04.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    9. Bogart, Dan, 2005. "Did Turnpike Trusts Increase Transportation Investment in Eighteenth-Century England?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 439-468, June.
    10. Alex Trew, 2010. "Infrastructure Finance and Industrial Takeoff in England," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(6), pages 985-1010, September.
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    19. Klein, Daniel & Majewski, John, 1991. "Economy, Community and Law: The Turnpike Movement in New York, 1797-1845," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt61b022cr, University of California Transportation Center.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alex Trew, 2016. "Endogenous Infrastructure Development and Spatial Takeoff," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201601, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews, revised 17 Jan 2019.
    2. Dan Bogart, 2013. "The Transportation Revolution in Industrializing Britain: A Survey," Working Papers 121306, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    3. Thomas E. Lambert, 2024. "British Public Investment, Government Spending, Housing, and the Industrial Revolution: A Study of Governmental and Social Surplus Absorption," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(4), pages 1378-1401, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monopoly; Regulation; Turnpike roads; Infrastructure; Britain; Industrial Revolution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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