Output effects of infrastructure investment in the netherlands, 1853–1913

Abstract

Using a new data set that allows for a distinction between transport and other categories of infrastructure investment, this paper finds strong evidence of a positive impact of transport infrastructure investment on Dutch GDP in the second half of the nineteenth century. However, as the time-series characteristics do not allow us to find permanent effects, these are short- and medium-run effects. We employ Granger-causality tests in a Vector AutoRegression (VAR) framework. Furthermore, the VAR models are analyzed using innovation accounting.