Public Infrastructure Investment Research Articles

Air Transport Demand Forecast to Making the Regional Aviation Sustainable in Northeast of Brazil

Both researchers and Government Agencies see aviation as an important driver for regional development and national integration. Thus, this sector has been a matter of concern for the government who has ways to stimulate the aero activity. The Regional Aviation Development Program (PDAR) has been currently under development implemented in Brazil. This program foresees public investments in airport infrastructure and operational subsidies for airlines to enhance the sector operation and increase the number of locations served by regional aviation. This paper presents a model for estimating passenger demand potential through multiple linear regression to cover the great majority of the federative units (states) of Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, and Piauí in the northeast of Brazil. Subsequently, localities are suggested to optimize the resources of the PDAR, and we concluded that it is likely that there are regions with higher demand potential than some regions, which are already served by the airlines. Hence, we assumed that by strategically directing investments to specific localities, companies operate without subsidies, which in turn can be directed to airlines used to integrate the country. This making regional aviation more sustainable leading development to isolated localities, and thus efficiently contributing to reducing the Brazilian social inequality.

A brief study of public transportation and sustainable cities management during COVID-19 pandemic

This paper aims to analyse the measures adopted in Brazilian State Capitals and the Federal District, since the beginning of the pandemic, to ensure safety conditions in public transport against the possible contagion of COVID-19, suggesting sustainable actions aligned to SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities for the post-COVID future. Based on relevant data from March to July 2020, acquired from journals, newspapers, and municipal and governmental decrees, it was possible to identify measures adopted for public transportation during the first COVID-19 wave in Brazil. The results demonstrate that it is necessary to create a strategy and map the extent of population mobility in public transport. These information is essential for predicting risk areas, making decisions, and establishing effective control mechanisms. Innovative and sustainable urban mobility requires clear policies and cooperation between public authorities and private transportation companies and investment in public roads and infrastructure and sustainable actions aligned with SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities ​​for the post-COVID future.

Do Social Investments by Mining Companies Harm Citizen-State Relations? Experimental Evidence from Burkina Faso

Do mining companies investing in public infrastructure in their host communities harm citizen-state relations? This study presents results from a survey-based field experiment conducted in two mining areas in Burkina Faso. We test whether informing respondents about investments undertaken by mining companies in domains considered classic government responsibilities affects citizens’ legitimating beliefs in their government and their likelihood of political participation. We randomly expose respondents to short audio stories about water infrastructure investments conducted by either a mining company or a municipal government in a fictitious but comparable village. Hearing about private as opposed to public investment leads to worse perceptions of the capacity and the legitimacy of the government in the fictitious village. Yet, the intervention does not affect respondents’ legitimating beliefs in their own local government. At the behavioural level, we find that hearing about either public or private investment as opposed to no information at all significantly increases participation in town hall meetings. Our experimental findings suggest that providing citizens in low-income settings information about investment in public infrastructure elsewhere can raise expectations in their own contexts and thereby stimulate citizen-state relations.

Evaluation of urban water security based on DPSIR model

Assessment of urban water security is an important scientific basis for the sustainable utilization of urban water resources. This study established an evaluation model for urban water security based on DPSIR model, entropy method and comprehensive index method. The model was applied to Gong Qingcheng City (GQCC) in Jiangxi Province, China. An indicator system is developed based on four aspects including social development, water resources status, water pollution and water resources management, as well as summing up predecessors’ experience. This study analysed per capita domestic water consumption; ratio of ecological water compensation; percentage of water conservancy and public infrastructure investment; and water consumption per ten thousand yuan of industrial output value; where ratio of urban sewage treatment are the main effects on urban water security. The results of single index evaluation show that the change of stress subsystem was most dramatic from 2013 to 2017, while others were relatively stable. This indicates that positive interventions were urgently needed to relieve pressure of the stress subsystem. The results of comprehensive index evaluation show that water security at GQCC was in a critical state. In this paper, the causal relationship between social development and water security was clarified while the main factors and other factors affecting urban water security was identified. Finally, a reference for the formulation of urban development planning based on water resources demand was provided.

Impact of Public Infrastructure Investment on Private Infrastructure Investment

The aim of this paper is to find the relationship among government and private capital formation in Pakistan during the period 1981 to 2018. This study employs Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) bound test. The results show that government infrastructure investment negatively effects on private infrastructure capital formation in long run and short run, indicating that government infrastructure investment crowds out private infrastructure investment. In determining the role of the government in investment and liberalization policies, the results of this paper have important policy implications.

Universal healthcare does not look the same everywhere: Divergent experiences with the private sector in Brazil and Thailand

ABSTRACT How does the private sector structure the trajectory of a country’s universal healthcare programme? Social scientists have long pointed to the importance of path dependence in shaping health reform. Yet, rarely have middle-income countries’ experience with the private sector under Universal Health Coverage (UHC) been examined from comparative perspective. In this paper, we explore the changing landscape of the health sector in Brazil and Thailand before UHC reform and after. We find path-dependent processes at work that have pushed two countries that both adopted UHC reforms in divergent directions. In Brazil, a comparatively large and entrenched private sector that existed before reform has grown over time, and a sizable private health insurance industry has exerted powerful influence on health policy, weakening the public sector. In Thailand, constraints on private health insurance growth and sustained investment in public health infrastructure and governance have helped check the growth of private sector influence, although battles over health policy still remain contentious. The experiences of these countries offer lessons for policymakers seeking to achieve and maintain robust UHC programmes in other contexts.

Government public infrastructure investment and economic performance in Spain (1980–2016)

PurposeThe authors estimate the multiplier effect of government public infrastructure investment in Spain. This paper aims to use annual data of the 17 Spanish autonomous communities for the 1980–2016 period.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use dynamic acyclic graphs and the heterogeneous panel structural vector autoregressive (P-SVAR) method of Pedroni (2013). This method is robust to cross-sectional heterogeneity and dependence, which are present in the data.FindingsThe findings suggest that an increase in the level of government public infrastructure investment generates a positive and persistent effect on the level of output. Five years after the fiscal expansion, the multiplier effects of government public infrastructure investment reach values above one. This confirms that government public infrastructure investment expansions have Keynesian effects. The authors also find that the multiplier effects differ between autonomous communities with above-average and below-average GDP per capita.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research uses dynamic acyclic graphs and heterogeneous P-SVAR techniques to estimate fiscal multipliers of government public investment in Spain by using subnational data.

Public Investment in Infrastructure and Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980-2020)

The paper examined Public Investment in Infrastructure and the Economic Growth of Nigeria.The study adopted Econometric analysis using E-View.The stationarity test carried out in the study showed that all the variables were all stationary at first difference,1(1) and because of this the reserachers proceeded to determine evidence of co-integration among the variables,hence the result of the co-integration test shows that there is an evidence of 2 co-integration equations which shows that there is a long run relationship among the variables.The ECM test was well signed having -0.019307 with a good Adjusted Coeffiient of determination of 92.78% with a joint statistical probabibility of 0.00000.The study had it that Public Investment in Technology,Educational infrastruture and Power all have positive relationship with the Economy wheras Transport has negative relationship with the Economy.The study went further to conclude that Public Investment plays important roles in stimulation the Nigerian Economy especially in this era of democracy.

공공 투자의 지속가능성을 위한 의사 결정: 예비타당성조사의 사례를 중심으로

[연구목적] 본 논문의 목적은 지속 가능성 관점에서 현재 PFS의 유형론과 UN SDGs 시대와 코로나 19 이후 PFS 내 지속 가능성 통합을 위한 정책 방향을 질적으로 조사하는 데 있다. [연구방법] 본 연구는 예비타당성조사에 대한 내부 및 외부 전문가 30인을 대상으로 Q 방법론과 FGI(Focused Group Interviews)를 활용하여 예비타당성조사에 대한 인식을 분석하였고, 공공투자의 지속가능성을 제고할 수 방안을 모색하였다. [연구결과] 예비타당성조사에 대한 전문가의 인식은 촉진자, 정책 지향적 대안, 환경주의의 세 가지 범주로 분류되었다. 지속 가능성을 고려한 예비타당성조사 체계를 설계하기 위해서는 예비타당성조사의 수용도를 높이고, 환경 평가를 강화하기 위한 교육을 강조해야한다는 결과를 보였다. 또한 예비타당성조사의 환경적 지속가능성을 강화하기 위해서는 외부 전문가가 제도 개혁에 개입하는 것이 바람직하다는 결과를 보였다. [정책적 시사점] 지속가능성 측면에서 예비타당성조사 제도개선에 대한 논의가 부족한 상황에서, 본 연구는 예비타당성조사에 대한 실제 전문가의 인식을 제공함으로써 정책방향을 설정하고 제도를 개선하기 위한 참고 자료를 제공하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 예비타당성조사의 제도 개선에 대한 근거를 제시함으로써 장래 제도 설계에 직접적으로 적용될 수 있다는 점에서 의미가 있다. 또한, 본 연구결과는 공공 투자의 지속 가능성이라는 시대의 요구에 부응하기 위한 설득력있는 참고 자료로 활용될 수 있다.

The Effect of Electricity Supply on the Performance of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises in Nigeria: A Case Study of Calabar South and Calabar Municipality of Cross River State

This research work analyzed the comparative study of the effect of electricity supply on the performance of small and medium-scale enterprises in Calabar South and Calabar Municipality,using small and medium scale businessmen and women as well as power holding company staff. The objectives of this study to analyze the comparative study of the effect of electricity supply on the performance of small and medium-scale enterprises in Calabar South and Calabar Municipality.The survey research design was adopted and a twelve (12) item structured questionnaire was used to obtain a sample size of 248 small and medium scale business owners and power holding staff randomly selected from the population. The results of the study revealed that there is a significant effect of electricity supply on the performance of small and medium-scale enterprises in Calabar South and Calabar Municipality. The results further revealed that insufficient electricity supply significantly affect the performance of small and medium-scale enterprises in Calabar South and Calabar Municipality.The study concludes that there are enormous difficulties being experienced by businesses in Cross River State and other parts of Nigeria due to inadequate and unreliable electric power supply. Thus an inadequate and unreliable supply of electricity imposes costs and therefore constrained firms’ operational performance as firms suffer high overhead cost due to the deficient electricity supply from the national grid. The study recommends that the Nigerian government needs to consider the issue of power supply reliability very seriously by facilitating both private and public investment in electricity infrastructure.

Crowd-in Effect of Highway Capital on Private Investment in the United States

This paper examines the impacts of public transportation infrastructure investment on private investment and whether public infrastructure investment tends to “crowd in” or “crowd out” private investment. “Crowding in” refers to situations where public investment encourages private sector investment, whereas “crowding out” refers to situations where public investment discourages private sector investment. This analysis applies the vector autoregression (VAR) methodology for an empirical study. Using national-level annual data from 1947 to 2017 in the United States, estimation results suggest that public investment in highways tends to crowd in private investment after an initial and temporary crowding-out effect. Most of the positive impacts on private investment accrue within 3 years after the initial public investment. The incremental impact diminishes almost completely after roughly 10 years. Alternative model specifications and sensitivity analyses further confirm the robustness of the model specification by yielding consistent and positive crowd-in effects within the first 3 to 5 years after the public investment.

“Unlocking Legal Gridlock in High-Income Countries: How Excessive Litigation Hampers Growth and Harms Democracy”

Abstract The paper focuses on rules of standing in the context of environmental law. With the implementation of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) in European law, interest groups have become major players in the enforcement of environmental regulations. Although such interest groups can help to reduce enforcement deficits, their involvements create the risk of regulatory gridlock, with excessive litigation lengthening approval processes which can discourage investment in public and private infrastructure. The paper discusses the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Germany, highlights ways to overcome administrative gridlock and facilitate effective approval procedures. If implemented, these strategies will enable Germany’s economy to remain competitive, supporting the maintenance of the country’s high standard of living and strong welfare state.

Impact of rating and praise campaigns on local government environmental governance efficiency: Evidence from the campaign of establishment of national sanitary cities in China.

BackgroundEcological and environmental protection is essential to achieving sustainable and high-quality development, which highlights the important role of environmental governance. In terms of the practical actions of environmental governance, the central government in China has carried out continuous rating and praise campaigns, and local governments have actively promoted this effort. However, the related performance consequences have not been empirically investigated. We aimed to verify whether this incentive policy can improve the efficiency of environmental governance and whether this governance method has long-term effects. In addition, we sought to identify mechanisms through which the policy can improve environmental governance.MethodWe take the rating and praise campaign of the Establishment of National Sanitary Cities (EONSCs) as a quasi-natural experiment and use the panel data for 174 cities from 2004 to 2016 and the propensity score matching-difference in differences (PSM-DID) method to test the impact of rating and praise campaigns on environmental governance efficiency.ResultsEONSCs campaign can improve the efficiency of environmental governance by 0.7595 (p<0.01), which is significant at the 1% level; the effects are clearly significant during the evaluation process and the year in which cities are named National Sanitary Cities (NSCs) but decrease annually thereafter. The EONSCs campaign has a significant promoting effect on public services provision, such as public infrastructure investment, public transportation and education.Conclusions(1) The rating and praise campaigns can effectively improve the efficiency of environmental governance; (2) the incentive effect is distorted and is not a long-term effect; (3) the impact of the rating and praise campaign of EONSCs on the efficiency of environmental governance is mainly realized through the provision of corresponding public services that are closely related to environmental protection. The findings of this paper provide empirical support for the effectiveness of the central government’s rating and praise campaigns and could motivate local governments to actively participate in environmental governance. Moreover, the findings provide an important reference for further improving the rating and praise campaigns and the level of environmental governance.

An analysis of the impact of investment in public transport on economic growth of metropolitan cities in South Africa

Background: Over the years, the South African government has emphasised improving the metros’ socioeconomic infrastructures because these form an essential catalyst that can boost grassroots development. Despite the considerable increase in investments in transport infrastructure in the metros, the contributions of the metros where all these transport investments are concentrated appear to be making little use of it to promote their grassroots development.Objectives: The study investigated the impact of public transportation on the output growth of South Africa.Method: One-way error component panel analysis is adopted to analyse disaggregated data from eight major metros in the country from 2003 to 2017. Data were mainly sourced on public transport expenditure, total social infrastructure expenditure, total capital formation, labour expenditure and output growth rate from each of the metros.Results: The results were a clear departure from what was obtained by previous studies on transport expenditure and the growth of South Africa. Six of the metros which are the big ones in terms of the population showed a result, which indicated that public transport expenditure did not influence their output significantly; but when combined with other social infrastructure, it exhibited significant impact. However, the results of the remaining two small metros showed that public transport expenditure and its combination with other social infrastructure all had a significant impact on their output growth.Conclusion: This confirms transport infrastructure investment conforms to the theory of the diminishing marginal product of capital. The six big metros should invest more in social infrastructure, which would complement the contemporary transport infrastructure investment. On the other hand, there is still a need to increase public transport infrastructure investments on the smaller metros.

Who supports which low-carbon transport policies? Characterizing heterogeneity among Canadian citizens

Citizen support is considered important for successful climate policy to be implemented. We examine how support varies by policy type and citizen characteristics, focusing on nine climate policies relating to transport, including carbon taxes, financial and non-financial incentives for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), and regulations (for fuels, vehicle emissions, and ZEVs). Citizen response to each policy was collected via a representative sample of Canadian citizens (n = 1552) in a 2019 survey. Support is high for vehicles emissions and low-carbon fuel standards, ZEV subsidies, investment in public charging infrastructure, and education campaigns (64%–77% support). Support is lower for carbon taxes (27%–42%), HOV lane access for ZEVs (49%), and ZEV mandates (48%–57%). Exploratory factor analysis indicates that the nine policies correlate into five policy types: “supply-focused regulations” (vehicle emissions and low-carbon fuel standards), “demand-focused initiatives” (ZEV subsidies, charger deployment, and education campaigns), carbon tax, HOV lane access for ZEVs, and ZEV mandate. Cluster analysis then identifies three groups of respondents, those who are: 1) “Universally Supportive” of the policies (34% of sample), 2) “Supportive Except Carbon Tax” (34%), and 3) “Mostly Opposing” (33%). Citizens in these clusters statistically differ in terms of values, environmental concern, age, education, and region.

Welfare impacts of smallholder farmers' participation in multiple output markets: Empirical evidence from Tanzania.

A relatively large body of literature has documented the welfare effects of smallholder farmers’ participation in single-commodity output markets. However, limited empirical evidence is available when smallholder farmers participate in multiple-commodities output markets. We tried to fill this gap in the literature by estimating the impacts of smallholder farmers’ contemporaneous participation in both maize and legume markets vis-à-vis in only maize or legume markets using household-level data from Tanzania. Applying a multinomial endogenous switching regression model that allows controlling for observed and unobserved heterogeneity associated with market participation in single-commodity and multiple-commodity markets, results showed that smallholder farmers’ participation in both single–and multiple–commodity markets was positively and significantly associated with household income and food security. Moreover, the greatest benefits were obtained when farmers participated in multiple-commodity markets, suggesting the importance of policies promoting diversification in crop income sources to increase welfare and food security. Our findings also signal the complementary–rather than substitute–nature of accessing multiple-commodity markets for enhancing household livelihoods under a specialization strategy. Finally, important policy implications are suggested, from promoting and supporting public infrastructure investments to expanding road networks to reduce transportation costs, especially in remote communities, to enhance smallholder farmer access to profitable maize and legume markets in Tanzania.

Fiscal Stimulus in Liquidity Traps: Conventional or Unconventional Policies?

Recent influential work argue that a gradual increase in sales tax stimulates economic activityin a liquidity trap by boosting inflation expectations. Higher public infrastructure investmentshould also be more expansive in a liquidity trap than in normal times by raising the potentialinterest rate and increasing aggregate demand. We analyze the relative merits of these policiesin New Keynesian models with and without endogenous private capital formation andheterogeneity when monetary policy does not respond by raising policy rates. Our key findingis that the effectiveness of sales tax hikes differs notably across various model specifications,whereas the benefits of higher public infrastructure investment are more robust in alternativemodel environments. We therefore conclude that fiscal policy should consider publicinvestment opportunities and not merely rely on tax policies to stimulate growth during theCOVID-19 crisis.3

Bracing for the Typhoon: Climate change and sovereign risk in Southeast Asia

AbstractThis article investigates and empirically tests the link between climate change and sovereign risk in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian countries are among those most heavily affected by climate change. The number and intensity of extreme weather events in the region have been increasing markedly, causing severe social and economic damage. Southeast Asian economies are also exposed to gradual effects of global warming as well as transition risks stemming from policies aimed at mitigating climate change. To empirically examine the effect of climate change on the sovereign risk of Southeast Asian countries, we employ indices for vulnerability and resilience to climate change and estimate country‐specific OLS models for six countries and a fixed effects panel using monthly data for the period 2002–2018. Both the country‐specific and the panel results show that greater climate vulnerability appears to have a sizable positive effect on sovereign bond yields, while greater resilience to climate change has an offsetting effect, albeit to a lesser extent. A higher cost of debt holds back much‐needed investment in public infrastructure and climate adaptation, increases the risk of debt sustainability problems, and diminishes the development prospects of Southeast Asian countries.

The Biden Administration’s ‘Made in America Tax Plan’ through the eyes of a Dutch tax lawyer

On March 31, 2021, U.S. President Biden released his ‘American Jobs Plan’, an ambitious proposal for large scale public investments in infrastructure and other priorities. That same day the American President announced plans to offset the costs of these investments with U.S. corporate tax increase proposals: the ‘Made in America Tax Plan’. To ensure that the tax measures envisaged would not weaken the competitive position of American businesses overseas the rest of the world is expected to tag along and join in on the envisaged American rate hikes. The Biden administration sees an opening for pushing its agenda at the tax policy discussions taking place within the Inclusive Framework of the OECD on the so-called Pillar One and Pillar Two proposals, the Blueprints of which the OECD published in October 2020. This paper discusses the ‘Made in America Tax Plan’ and its implications for the European Union and its member states, the author’s home country the Netherlands as one of these, and other countries, that is, if the U.S. tax plans were to see the light of day.

Determinants of Productivity in Brazil: an empyrical analysis of the period 1996-2020

Empirical studies regarding the determinants of productivity in developing countries, including Brazil, have demonstrated the negative impact of high inflation rates on the industrial capacity. However, the recent Brazilian experience clearly shows that stabilization since 1996, in and of itself, is not capable of recovering the investment rates. With this in mind, this study's goal is to answer, with the help of econometric simulation models, the questions: (i) what are the key-drivers to assess the Brazilian economy since 1996?; and (ii) what are the key-factors to be considered when investments are made, particulary in productivity? To answer the questions we evaluated the impacts of macro-economic variables on private investments, using a strategic bias and a long term vision plan. The estimates demonstrate empirical crowding-in evidence of public investments in infrastructure over private investments as a real impact to productivity. As for public invetsments (noninfrastructural) we suggest that the crowding-in impact dislocates private investments. All these indicators were obtained as presented in the therory, with the exception of the real interest rates variable (r), in which we observed that the coefficient is positive and insignificant in the estimated equation.