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Policy in the Pipeline: Identifying Regional Public Investment Priorities Using a Natural Experiment

Author

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  • Myck, Michal

    (Centre for Economic Analysis, CenEA)

  • Najsztub, Mateusz

    (Centre for Economic Analysis, CenEA)

Abstract

We identify regional public investment priorities by studying the development of the water pipe system in the largest district in Poland. For this purpose, we take advantage of a major administrative re-form, implemented on 1 January 1999, which substantially changed the structure of Polish local government and reduced the number of top-tier administrative regions from 49 to 16. We treat the reform as a natural experiment, and apply the difference-in-differences approach to study developments along the boundary of the new Mazovian voivodeship. We find strong and positive implications for the development of the water pipe system in municipalities within the Mazovian voivodeship compared with those just outside its boundaries. The overall post-reform difference in the length of the total water pipe network is 25% and the difference in the per-capita length of the network is 30%. Local public investment priorities at the voivodeship level, potentially related to effective use of EU funds, are the most likely determinants of these differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Myck, Michal & Najsztub, Mateusz, 2019. "Policy in the Pipeline: Identifying Regional Public Investment Priorities Using a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 12220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12220
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    public investment policy; water pipe system; administrative reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects
    • P35 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Public Finance

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