Empirical Evidence from EU-28 Countries on Resilient Transport Infrastructure Systems and Sustainable Economic Growth

Ştefan Gherghina,Georgeta Vintilă,Mihaela Onofrei,Daniel Armeanu

doi:10.3390/su10082900

Abstract

This paper examines the nexus between the main forms of transport, related investments, specific air pollutants, and sustainable economic growth. The research is important since transport may act as a facilitator of social, economic, and environmental development. Based on data retrieved from Eurostat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and World Bank, the output of fixed-effects regressions for EU-28 countries over 1990–2016 reveals that road, inland waterways, maritime, and air transport infrastructure positively influence gross domestic product per capita (GDPC), though a negative link occurred in the case of railway transport. As concerning investments in transport infrastructure, the empirical results exhibit a positive impact on economic growth for every type of transport, except inland waterways. Besides, emissions of CO2 from all kind of transport, alongside other specific air pollutants, negatively influence GDPC. The fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares panel estimation results reinforce the findings. Further, in the short-run, Granger causality based on panel vector error correction model pointed out a unidirectional causal link running from sustainable economic growth to inland waterways and maritime transport of goods, albeit a one-way causal link running from the volume of goods transported by air to GDPC. As well, the empirical results provide support one-way short-run links running from GDPC to investments in road and inland waterway transport infrastructure. In addition, a bidirectional short-run link occurred between carbon dioxide emissions from railway transport and GDPC, whereas unidirectional relations with economic growth were identified in the case of carbon dioxide emissions from road and domestic aviation. In the long-run, a bidirectional causal relation was noticed between the length of the railways lines, investments in railway transport infrastructure, and GDPC, as well as a two-way causal link between the gross weight of seaborne goods handled in ports and GDPC.

Highlights

Infrastructure ensures the provision of basic physical systems and structures that are indispensable for peoples and companies [1]
This paper examined the relationship between the main types of transport, related investments, specific air pollutants, and sustainable economic growth for EU-28 countries over 1990–2016
According to Granger causality based on a panel vector error correction model, we noticed a short-run one-way link running from the volume of goods transported by air to gross domestic product per capita (GDPC), as well as from inland waterways goods transports and the gross weight of seaborne goods handled in ports to GDPC

Summary

Introduction

Infrastructure ensures the provision of basic physical systems and structures that are indispensable for peoples and companies [1]. Amongst the multifarious kinds of infrastructure, the policy makers regard transport infrastructure as one of the most essential, since related cost is critical in setting the location for firms, and the economic development of a region [2]. Transport is one of the crucial sectors, inasmuch as an economy can benefit from transport services by quickening access to amenities, increasing the market mobility and direct employment [4], encouraging international tourism [5], saving time, and dropping business costs [6,7]. Through attracting resources from other areas, transport infrastructure can act as a magnet of regional economic growth [8]. Well-organized transportation networks engender employment and wealth, and lead to economic growth [10]. Li et al [12] found that road infrastructure influences the local economy by attracting foreign investments and stimulating real estate development. Contrariwise, a deficiency of infrastructure generates bottlenecks for sustainable growth and poverty reduction [13]

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Conclusion