The moderating effect of the public finances on transport infrastructures in Spain

Abstract

In recent decades, Spain has witnessed a considerable increase in railway and road transport infrastructure. The driver of this change has been investment from the central government, which has generated speculation regarding the possible distribution of new infrastructure according to partisan political interests. This paper aims to determine whether this political influence impacts the efficiency of the transport infrastructure. This study proposes an empirical model to assess the impact of the central government's investment in roads and railways in the country's 15 mainland autonomous communities. The empirical results reveal that the political factor, as a proxy of public finances, moderates the accessibility process. The empirical model analyses the impact of new infrastructure on structuring and territorial cohesion during 1995–2007, considered the golden decade in Spain. Based on the econometric results, we conclude that state investment in rail, moderated by the consideration of political factors, improves the accessibility of rail transport infrastructure. Finally, this study presents relevant policy implications, suggesting a new line of regulations to increase local transport infrastructure projects' quality regarding “network efficiency.”