This report describes evaluation methods for transport infrastructure investments to ensure that scarce resources are allocated in a way that maximises their net return to society.
Examines key principles that should be considered by governments in deciding how to provide and pay for surface transport infrastructure, with a view to best serving societies’ needs and employing public resources.
Economic Role of Transport Infrastructure: Theory and Models helps evaluate the economic effects of transport infrastructure investments within a cost-benefit framework for maximum economic impact. The book analyzes the primary empirical approaches used to gauge the economic effects of transport infrastructures, providing in-depth discussions on data issues, input-output techniques, and econometric methodologies. Users will find empirical evidence organized from a transport mode point-of-view, inspiring researchers to conduct comparative analysis for various infrastructure projects. Topics cover infrastructure's impact on economic growth using theoretical frameworks, including exogenous growth models, endogenous growth models, and new economic geography models. In addition, readers will also learn tips for conducting infrastructure impact studies and how to improve the effectiveness of infrastructural investments design. - Explains and evaluates the economic effects of transport infrastructure investments, including direct and indirect, short and long run impact, and local and spillover outcomes - Provides up-to-date coverage of quantitative techniques and empirical results for transportation and economic impact issues - Explains the steps for conducting impact studies for proposed infrastructure projects - Analyzes infrastructure's role on economic growth through theoretical, methodological and empirical perspectives - Features case studies describing real-world methods
This book makes a major contribution to the debate and is directed at researchers, decision makers and students who are interested in the wider economic development impacts of transport.
Mobility is fundamental to economic and social activities such as commuting, manufacturing, or supplying energy. Each movement has an origin, a potential set of intermediate locations, a destination, and a nature which is linked with geographical attributes. Transport systems composed of infrastructures, modes and terminals are so embedded in the socio-economic life of individuals, institutions and corporations that they are often invisible to the consumer. This is paradoxical as the perceived invisibility of transportation is derived from its efficiency. Understanding how mobility is linked with geography is main the purpose of this book. The third edition of The Geography of Transport Systems has been revised and updated to provide an overview of the spatial aspects of transportation. This text provides greater discussion of security, energy, green logistics, as well as new and updated case studies, a revised content structure, and new figures. Each chapter covers a specific conceptual dimension including networks, modes, terminals, freight transportation, urban transportation and environmental impacts. A final chapter contains core methodologies linked with transport geography such as accessibility, spatial interactions, graph theory and Geographic Information Systems for transportation (GIS-T). This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the field, with a broad overview of its concepts, methods, and areas of application. The accompanying website for this text contains a useful additional material, including digital maps, PowerPoint slides, databases, and links to further reading and websites. The website can be accessed at: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans This text is an essential resource for undergraduates studying transport geography, as well as those interest in economic and urban geography, transport planning and engineering.
Regional development is attracting the attention of policy makers and scientists again, as regions, urban centers and rural areas, experience substantial pressures, particularly in Europe, as a consequence of globalization and geopolitical changes which lead to changes in spatial structures and dynamics. This book is based on the contributions of Greek regional science research presented at the 2006 Congress of the European Regional Science Association at Volos, Greece. The contributions selected to be presented in this book address these changes offering a fresh look into regional development. They provide an overview of regional development concerns from Greek regional scientists but the issues discussed pervade Greek particularities and stimulate thinking about regional science, regional development and regional policy in the early twenty-first century.
Infrastructure is essential for development. This report presents a snapshot of the current condition of developing Asia's infrastructure---defined here as transport, power, telecommunications, and water supply and sanitation. It examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed through 2030. Finally, it analyzes the financial and institutional challenges that will shape future infrastructure investment and development.
The paper investigates empirically the determinants of economic growth for a large sample of sub-Saharan African countries during 1981-92. The results indicate that (i) an increase in private investment has a relatively large positive impact on per capita growth; (ii) growth is stimulated by public policies that lower the budget deficit in relation to GDP (without reducing government investment), reduce the rate of inflation, maintain external competitiveness, promote structural reforms, encourage human capital development, and slow population growth; and (iii) convergence of per capita income occurs after controlling for human capital development and public policies.