Impact Of Transport Infrastructure Investment Research Articles

The effect of transport infrastructure (road, rail, and air) investments on economic growth and environmental pollution and testing the validity of EKC in China, India, Japan, and Russia.

A key factor in social development and sustainable urban expansion is the establishment of sustainable and affordable transport systems. This study aims to investigate the impact of transport infrastructure investment on environmental degradation and economic growth and to test the validity of the EKC hypothesis in China, India, Russia, and Japan over the period 1995-2020. The results show that GDP has a significant positive effect, and GDP2 and GDP3 have significant adverse effects on environmental degradation, respectively. These results confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in selected emerging Asian economies. Rail infrastructure investment has significant adverse effects, while road infrastructure investment and aviation infrastructure investment have significant positive effects on environmental degradation. Likewise, the impact of investment in transport infrastructure system (roads, rail, and aviation) on economic growth is positive and statistically significant. Country-level estimates confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China, India, and Russia, while the N-shaped EKC is only valid in Japan. Investments in rail infrastructure based on modern rail systems that run on electricity are believed to be less polluting in the transport mix, help create sustainable and safe transport systems, and reduce emissions at the urban and intercity levels in emerging Asian countries. In addition, the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution should be strengthened to harmonize the strict enforcement of environmental conditions dominated by trade agreements.

Empirical analysis of the impact of China-Japan-South Korea transportation infrastructure investment on environmental degradation and the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.

Building sustainable and affordable transport systems is a key issue for social development and sustainable urban expansion. The study used dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) to examine the impact of transport infrastructure investment on environmental degradation in China, Japan, and South Korea over the period 1995-2020 and the validity of the EKC hypothesis. The results show that GDP has a significant positive effect, and GDP2 and GDP3 have significant adverse effects on environmental degradation, respectively. These results confirm the validity of the inverted U shaped EKC hypothesis in selected Asian countries. Road infrastructure investment has a significant positive effect, while railway infrastructure investment has a significant adverse effect on environmental degradation. Air infrastructure investment and trade opening have a progressive and statistically significant impact on environmental pollution. Modern rail systems that run on electricity are considered less polluting, so the share of rail infrastructure investment in the transport mix can help build sustainable and safe transport systems at the city Centre and intercity levels and reduce emissions in Asian countries. Moreover, strict enforcement of the prevailing environmental conditions of trade agreements should be encouraged to reduce the increasing impact of free trade on environmental pollution.

The Impact of Transport Infrastructure Investment on Energy Intensity: The Perspective of Fiscal Decentralization

Investment in China’s transport infrastructure has contributed to its rapid economic growth, which also consumes a great deal of energy and generates a significant amount of carbon emissions. In these circumstances, it is worthwhile to discuss the internal influence mechanisms behind these two outcomes’ similar growth trends. This paper selects panel data from 30 regions in China from 2009 to 2019 and uses the threshold spatial autoregressive (TSAR) model to analyze the impact of transport infrastructure investment on the energy intensity due to fiscal decentralization. While studies of the relationship between transport infrastructure investment and energy intensity exist, few studies examine the non-linear spatial relationship between the two. This paper fills this gap by using the TSAR Model. The results show the following: (1) the effect of transport infrastructure investment on the energy intensity under fiscal decentralization and heterogeneity expresses non-linear characteristic; (2) there is a positive relationship between infrastructure investment and energy intensity when the degree of attenuation is low, but when the degree of attenuation is higher than a particular threshold value, transport infrastructure investment negatively impacts energy intensity; (3) rising energy prices, increasing investment in technological innovation costs, and increasing foreign trade will help to drive the decline in energy intensity.

Socio-economic impacts of transport infrastructure investment in Uganda: Insight from frontloading expenditure on Uganda's urban roads and highways

BackgroundThe relationship between transport infrastructure and economic growth has remained one of the most striking expanses from the perspectives of economists, researchers as well as policy makers. This paper therefore has examined the impact of road transport infrastructure investment on Uganda's economic performance and also quantified the economic costs associated with inefficient urban road transport infrastructure network for the case of Uganda. The paper utilizes a rich econometric methodology involving the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) to estimate the impact of road transport infrastructure and economic growth as well as traffic counts of travel East bound (EB) and West Bound (WB) for the major roads leading to Kampala Capital City to estimate the generalized cost of travel as the city represents more than 70% of the total national vehicle traffic/population. The quantification of gains and costs provided a benchmark to inform further policy processes, planning, and feasibility studies. ResultsThe ARDL bound test results confirmed the existence cointegration of variables although the variables were integrated of different orders. The results of empirical ARDL indicated that investment in road transport infrastructure has both short and long run significant impact on economic growth of Uganda. In the long run, the study finds that investment in road transport infrastructure has a positive and significant impact on economic growth. But in the short run, the impact is actually negative. The paper finds that, a 1 percentage point increase in investment in road transport infrastructure increases economic growth by 0.062 percentage points in the long run. On the other hand, a 1 percentage point increase in investment in road transport infrastructure reduces economic growth in the 1st year of the increase in the expenditure by 0.089 percentage points but (Gross Domestic Product) GDP increases by 7.5 percentage points in the second year. This implies that, the impact of road transport infrastructure investment on economic growth occurs with lags for the case of Uganda. Evidence also justifies presence of significant economic benefits due to massive investments in the urban transport infrastructure network through express highways and associated roads especially within the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, municipal authorities and future transport planning for new cities. ConclusionThe main conclusion of this paper is that, with the current state of traffic flow, the country loses about 6.7% of its GDP due to traffic congestion annually. Therefore, projects such as; Kampala flyover project, Entebbe Express Highway, Southern Bypass, Northern Bypass, Kampala Bombo Express Highway, Kampala Jinja Express Highway and Kibuye Mpigi Express highway together with associated urban roads improvements that are planned for seamless flow of traffic within the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) are highly justified. These projects should be prioritized, fast-tracked and developed in a concurrent manner to realize the intended results. Further, the negative short run impact of infrastructure spending on growth implies the need to rebalance public spending to also prioritize social sectors.

Accessibility in the regional CGE framework: the effects of major transport infrastructure investments in Poland

Since its EU accession, Poland has invested strongly in the development of fast road transport network. As a result, the total length of modern, high-speed roads has increased from around 500 km in 2005 to over 3000 km in 2015. Yet, while the positive impact of transport infrastructure investment on overall accessibility is unquestionable there are no studies that assess its influence on economic development of particular regions. This paper applies a regional dynamic CGE model to measure the effects of big transport infrastructure investments in Polish NUTS2 regions. We use data on both investment spending and accessibility improvement (expressed as a reduction in transport margins) in order to distinguish between possible short and long term impacts. We find that there exist significant disparities in the impact between regions with high share of major road infrastructure investment undertaken by private investors and the ones that relied fully on public funding. In the case of the former, the lack of analyzed investment would lead to relatively significant decrease in real GDP or average employment. In the case of the latter, the impact of major road infrastructure investment is almost negligible.

Simulating the impact of transport infrastructure investment on wages: A dynamic spatial panel model approach

This paper estimates the impact of a multi-billion pound investment in Britain's rail transport infrastructure, in the form of high-speed rail links, on wage levels across each of 347 districts of England and Wales. The impacts are based on a dynamic spatial panel model adaptation of standard urban economics based on employment density and commuting patterns. This allows estimation of these global impacts operating via improved commuting times. We demonstrate that while estimates of a traditional market potential approach with fixed effects are to some extent qualitatively and quantitatively similar to our predictions, our predictions allow more heterogeneous effects and give more accurate forecasts. The study finds that on average wages increase by around 2% as employment centres gain improved access to more skilled workers and as spillover effects become spatially more extensive. While most areas see modest positive effects, some locations are negatively affected, in the extreme case by as much as 7%.

Major transport infrastructure investment and regional economic development – An accessibility-based approach

Territorial cohesion and improvement of accessibility can be considered the main goals that are at the core of the EU Cohesion Policy. Yet, while there exists an abundant literature on the impact of transport infrastructure investment on the overall accessibility level, very few studies try to verify the possible link between accessibility and regional economic development. This issue seems to be particularly interesting in the case of the EU's New Member States that have experienced a big push to develop their transportation networks in the last decade. Hence, in the present paper we apply the potential accessibility indicator for Poland in order to verify the general productivity effects of major transport infrastructure investments between 2004 and 2014. We find that accessibility improvement seems to be weakly but positively correlated with growth in regional employment. However, the impact on the growth of regional production is not statistically significant. We also find that, once nonlinearity is assumed, accessibility improvement does not have a statistically significant impact on urban areas. At the same time it is in fact negatively correlated with output growth in the case of rural areas.

Transport Infrastructure Investment and Transport Sector Productivity on Economic Growth in South Africa (1975-2011)

This paper examines the impact of transport infrastructure investment and transport sector productivity on South African economic growth for the period 1975-2011. We use a Vector Error Correction Model and a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive model as empirical tools. The models provide an insight into the dynamic shocks on economic growth through impulse responses. The VECM reveals that economic growth is influenced by inflation, domestic fixed transport investments, and real exchange rate, yet on the BVAR model it was influenced by inflation, domestic fixed transport investments, multi factor productivity, real exchange rate and second period Gross Domestic Product DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p761

The growth impact of transport infrastructure investment: A regional analysis for China (1978–2008)

This study aims to explore the impact of transport capital stock on economic growth in Chinese regions. Using panel data for a sample of 28 provinces and municipalities over the period 1978–2008, the empirical findings show that there is significant spatial variation in the productivity effects of transport infrastructure in China. The highest output elasticity in the connection provinces of the central region means that transport investments there will yield the highest economic returns, which is in line with “the emergence of new economic center” theory. From a policy perspective, China had best give priority to the development of transport facilities in the backland region to realize the rise of Central China.

Capturing Land Value Increment to Finance Infrastructure Investment—Possibilities for South Africa

In the globalisation age, cities are the drivers of economic growth. However, sustainable economic growth demands considerable investment in infrastructure. South African cities face a triple challenge of eradicating historical infrastructure backlogs inherited from the Apartheid era, servicing and maintaining existing infrastructure and providing new infrastructure to stimulate economic growth. In the South African context, the provision of municipal infrastructure plays a critical role in eradicating sociospatial inequalities as part of an overall poverty reduction strategy. This places a huge burden on local governments in South Africa in particular as they face capacity constraints and challenges in terms of raising sufficient own revenue in order to finance infrastructure projects. This paper argues that in light of the South African government’s current infrastructure drive and the significant amount of public resources being spent on transport infrastructure upgrades, it is an opportune time to consider the impact of transport infrastructure investment in particular on land value and how this value can be captured to finance the provision of infrastructure at local level. The paper cautions though that any programme aimed at capturing betterment needs to be based on sound research and needs to take cognisance of the legislative, policy and economic context in South Africa.

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

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.

MODELLING THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE DANISH GREAT BELT LINK

ABSTRACT Different approaches to modelling the impact of transport infrastructure investment on regional economic development are examined, including production function and economic potential approaches. An integrated modelling approach involving both transport costs and models of regional and interregional economic structure is advocated. This approach is applied to the question of forecasting the regional economic effects of the Danish Great Belt link, a major Danish infrastructure investment, due to open in 1997. These effects arc shown to be modest.

Modelling the regional economic effects of the Danish Great Belt link

Different approaches to modelling the impact of transport infrastructure investment on regional economic development are examined, including production function and economic potential approaches. An integrated modelling approach involving both transport costs and models of regional and interregional economic structure is advocated. This approach is applied to the question of forecasting the regional economic effects of the Danish Great Belt link, a major Danish infrastructure investment, due to open in 1997. These effects are shown to be modest.