On the supply of network infrastructure

The relationship between transport infrastructure and regional development is not monocausal. In addition to the causal link between infrastructure and regional development there is also a reverse link from regional development to infrastructure investments. In the present paper we investigate the latter relationship at the interregional level. A number of factors having an impact on infrastructure supply is formulated including regional and interregional demand, construction costs, financing possibilities, regional policies and border effects. An empirical study is carried out for the supply of railways and highways in a set of regions in the EU. It is found that most of these factors indeed have a significant impact on infrastructure supply. No significant result could be found, however, for regional policies. Also, at a broad spatial level, no indications are found that border regions are suffering from a lack of infrastructure supply.     

Infrastructure and regional growth,growth dynamics and policy relevance for India

The role of infrastructure in economic growth has been the subject of considerable research in the fields of public policy, economics, and planning. In this paper, I examine the contribution of publicly supplied infrastructure to sub national regional growth in India. I first develop and numerically examine a regionally disaggregated model of economic growth to understand the dynamics of private capital and public infrastructure. For the empirical analysis, I use a pooled data set for Indian states to examine if publicly supplied infrastructure is a significant determinant of regional growth and whether there are spatial variations in the productivity effects of infrastructure. The main findings are that transport and communications infrastructure expenditures are significant determinants of regional growth, and the positive benefits accruing from these expenditures come not only from investments made by individual states, but there are positive externalities from network expenditures made by neighboring states. Finally, the out of sample simulated regional growth predictions show divergence in private capital formation between lagging and leading states. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are entirely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank, its executive directors, or the countries they represent.     

Incorporating demand-side aspects into regional policy: variations in the importance of private investment decision factors across regions

Most regional programs focus on the supply side of regions, emphasizing the attraction conditions offered, such as infrastructure, labor skills, tax incentives, etc. This study analyzes one aspect of the demand side, that is, how investment decisions of private firms are made by asking the question: “Do corporations decide the same way on investments in different parts of the territory?” The paper analyzes the investments of 373 large Brazilian firms during 1996–2004. Based on the investment decisions of these firms, the role of sales, cash-flow, external financing, and working capital is investigated through regression analysis. The regional influence is captured by explanatory variables representing regional and firm characteristics, and by interaction dummies between the region and the main investment determinants. The results indicate significant differences across regions in the importance of investment determinants. This information is important for regional development policy, because different mechanisms should be used in different regions to foster private investments.     

Interregional allocation models of infrastructure investments

This paper deals with the allocation of public investments to some of the prospective key elements in the regional infrastructure. Two optimization models are suggested for allocating investment resources among regions and various infrastructure elements. Applications of the models illustrate solutions based on policy goals of economic efficiency and regional equity. The optimization models draw on the estimation of an aggregate regional production function.     

基于非参数Malmquist指数方法的我国基础设施投资生产率研究

综合包括地区生产总值等指标在内的多项指标作为衡量基础设施投资产出效果的指标,更能全面地反映基础设施投资的绩效。通过应用非参数的DEA方法,计算我国1999～2006年的基础设施投资的Malmquist生产率指数,克服了参数方法只能用一个指标衡量基础设施投资绩效的不足,并对基础设施投资的效率变动进行分析。研究结果表明,我国基础设施投资对经济拉动的作用正逐渐变小,同时由过去注重通过加大基础设施投入促进沿海地区的经济发展,正逐步向关注中西部地区的基础设施投入对经济发展促进作用的转移;同时,我国基础设施投资规模效率,正逐年有所改善,各地区的基础设施配置的纯技术效率变化不大,表明我国的基础设施投资仍可按照目前的投资规模稳步进行;而改变目前生产率逐年衰退的关键是推进基础设施投资的技术创新,推进基础设施投资与配置的生产技术前沿。     

提高公路工程施工质量管理的有效策略

公路是促进地区经济快速发展的重要基础设施之一,交通设施建设状况是一个地区经济发展程度的直接表现。要想富、先修路,这是为国家、地区及人民所共识的。本文就探索了发生公路质量问题的原因,提出了提高公路工程施工质量管理的有效策略和措施。     

Public capital, regional productivity and spatial spillovers

This paper examines the impact of infrastructure on productivity in the various regions of Spain. Using the duality approach and panel data, we estimate regional cost functions for the three main sectors of the economy for the period 1964–1991. Public capital is included as an unpaid factor of production, and two separate variables are used to establish whether the different categories of public capital have varying effects on costs. Results show that public infrastructure noticeably reduces private costs and increases overall productivity. We also estimate a production function with regional and time fixed effects. Finally, we include a study of spillover effects in transport infrastructure. Estimations suggest that such effects are of some relevance, a fact which may have serious implications for public policy on infrastructure. Received: January 2002 / Accepted: November 2004 All authors are members of the Academic Robotics Group. In listing The Academic Robotics Group, the authors are endeavoring to place each of the participant institutions on an equal footing in terms of effort and authorship. M. A. Talamini is serving as presenter.     

低碳高效的综合商务区规划实践探讨——以虹桥商务区规划为例

虹桥商务区以创新转型、低碳生态、居职平衡为理念,关注区域统筹发展,重点研究区域综合交通支撑系统,并通过分单元明确各项建设指标和市政、道路等基础设施的控制要素落地两项工作,指导控制性详细规划编制,实现规划衔接。     

Allocation mechanisms in public provision of transport and communication infrastructure

This study explores the allocation mechanisms in the public provision of interregional transport and communication infrastructure in Sweden. The logistics of the flow of infrastructure investments from the government budget is examined. The purpose is to consider how the demand for infrastructure investment is estimated by public agencies, how judgments are made on governmental expenditure policy, and what determines the spatial distribution of infrastructure investment. The analysis is carried out along four main lines; demand for infrastructure services, political intentions and goals, the modal composition of investments for transport and communication, and the spatial distribution of infrastructure. The discussion considers functional, spatial, and temporal consistency aspects in the public provision of infrastructure.     

Internet infrastructure and regional convergence: Evidence from Turkey

This study presents novel evidence regarding the role of regional internet infrastructure in reducing regional per capita income disparities. We base our study on the assumptions that (1) the diffusion of information homogenizes regional economies through reducing the dissimilarities in institutions and culture, and (2) the telecommunication capacity, represented by the internet infrastructure of a region, facilitates this flow of information. Using the data from the 26 statistical NUTS‐2 regions of Turkey for the period 1999–2011, we find evidence that internet infrastructure increases the speed of regional convergence.     

Public-private partnerships in Spanish Ports: Current status and future prospects

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have proved to be more than adequate as a means to develop transport infrastructure, especially in the case of large-scale infrastructure such as ports. However, under certain specific circumstances they can lead to certain failures, and so huge public losses. Both the country's hard-hit economy and its vast experience in PPP investments make Spain an ideal case to analyse the successes and failures of these types of contracts, at a time of severe public investment constraints and need for real efficient execution of projects. This paper aims to provide an up-to-date review of PPP experiences in Spanish ports under a legislative framework which fosters public-private cooperation. More explicit and exhaustive contract terms, proper risk assignment, a higher control over demand forecast in port projects, and certain competition concerns are identified as the main requirements for future policy actions.     

Telecommunications infrastructure and regional income convergence in China: panel data approaches

The conditional convergence framework constitutes the theoretical basis for different dynamic panel data approaches. But models with different specifications or estimated by different methods may have very different results. This study empirically tests the results by applying different panel data approaches to the study of telecommunications infrastructure in regional economic growth across China. Specifically, the pattern of regional economic growth across 29 regions in China from 1986 to 2002 is examined. The results suggest the system GMM estimation is more likely to produce consistent and efficient estimates than OLS and fixed-effect estimation. Findings indicate a significant and positive relationship between telecommunications infrastructure and regional economic growth in China and the empirical results from different estimations suggest robust results for this particular assessment. The authors wish to acknowledge the insightful and helpful comments of two anonymous referees that significantly raised the quality of this study. Any errors or misinterpretation are the responsibility of the author.     

Club convergence in innovation activity across European regions

The goal of this paper is to analyse the innovation activity convergence process across European regions from 2002 to 2012. A novel methodology that allows either detection of overall convergence or endogenous identification of groups of regions was applied. The results support the club convergence hypothesis for explaining the convergence process of Europe's regions during the period analysed and seven innovation convergence clubs were identified. In addition, the research results indicate that initial regional R&D expenditure is the most relevant factor driving the formation of the convergence clubs after controlling for the effects of regional structural characteristics.     

Infrastructure, ecology and art

In keeping with the ‘industrial ecology’ metaphor, roads and railways should be regarded as forming an ecosystem with their surroundings, just like industrial systems (factory premises, manufacturing industries) that have had to start functioning as ecosystems in which the flow of energy, water, raw materials and waste products has been made to recycle as far as possible. In this type of system approach, the flow of material, transport, emissions and energy and the habitats of plants and animals are geographically, systematically and functionally integrated, especially when they are based on a greater degree of interweaving between man and nature than is currently the case. In short, a new way of looking at the meaning of ecology in relation to the physical infrastructure.In the article, examples are given about the practical implication of linking ecological patterns and processes within the design process of civil engineering object, as well as the possible art’s contribution in forming infrastructural landscapes.     

Regional economic convergence: Do policy instruments make a difference?

The relationship between public capital, regional output and private sector productivity has been an issue of considerable interest in the regional development literature. There have however been few studies that develop linkages between these issues and the broader literature on economic convergence. This paper presents an innovative methodology to examine the process of regional economic convergence across U.S. states. We examine the effects of economic variables such as human and public capital in the convergence process, and control for business cycle and region specific effects in the analysis. Further, specification problems arising from spatial dependence are also addressed. Results from the empirical analysis show that the speed of convergence is influenced by region specific characteristics and the availability of trained labor in neighboring regions. Received: November 1998/Accepted: March 2000     

Landscape fragmentation caused by the transport network in Navarra (Spain): Two-scale analysis and landscape integration assessment

Landscape fragmentation caused by the main transport infrastructure network in Navarra (north of Spain) is analysed on both regional and local scales. Regional scale analysis identifies the overloaded zones (cloverleaves and corridors) and the territorial imbalance due to transportation infrastructures. In order to achieve an holistic approach, this information could be compared to other fragmentation-related regional activities. The study of the fragmentation caused by the two northern dual carriageways is carried out at a local scale, analysing the surrounding landscape, the potential permeability and the road-kill rates of medium-sized terrestrial wildlife. The black spots and the funnel effect sites are identified. As both regional and local scales are complementary, the two-scale analysis could improve landscape management. Finally, it is concluded that visual landscape study does not guarantee a functional integration.     

The impact of population on the reduction of steady-state disparities across Spanish regions

Despite the abundant literature on convergence across the Spanish regions, most of the empirical research has used cross-section regressions or panel data techniques with fixed effects, resulting in biased estimates. Furthermore, many of these studies have not explicitly accounted for the effect of population changes in the convergence process. This paper attempts to overcome these limitations by applying a dynamic panel data model using the generalized method of moments system estimates for the seventeen regions of Spain during the 1955–2008 period. The main conclusion that stems from our analysis is that the deep reduction in steady-state disparities across Spain’s regions can be largely attributed to the differences in their population growth rates, which were mainly due to migration flows. In contrast, investment in physical capital, although it promoted convergence, played a minor role, while technology was a strong factor for divergence.     

Regional growth and spatial spillovers: Evidence from an SpVAR for the Spanish regions

This paper provides a spatial vector autoregressive (SpVAR) analysis of growth spillovers for the Spanish regions over the period 1965–2003. First, a spatial Granger causality analysis is performed that indicates the relevant impact of spatial spillover effects across regions in Spain. Second, the empirical research offers a contribution in the context of the SpVAR modelling estimating the push‐in (from the neighbours to the region) and push‐out (from the region to its neighbours) effects of growth spillovers within a regional economic system. Finally, the proposed methodology reveals empirical evidence about both the short‐run and long‐term regional growth adjustment processes in space and time. The results for the Spanish regional panel data suggest the existence of strong spatiotemporal regional spillovers of growth output. This has important implications for the choice of regional policy goals and regional policy instruments.     

The regional impacts of Trans-European networks

A key element in the process of European integration is that ofTrans-European Networks which will affect the poorer peripheral states of the existing Community, potential new members in East and Central Europe, but also have considerable significance for the congested central regions. There is a recognition of the need for considerable infrastructural investment, which will have considerable implications for both the inter- and intra-regional distribution of economic activity and which address to two central concerns of cohesion and subsidiarity. This paper examines the scope and nature of the transport TENs proposed and analyses the problems posed by these changes and the options for policy within the EC, especially that on the development of the Community's regions. The paper argues that such an approach requires a careful definition of measures of accessibility which relate to both intra- and inter-regional access; to all modes of transport, reflecting a region's economic structure and transport needs; and to levels of service on infrastructure. It concludes that an increasing emphasis on the Community significance of new transport infrastructure will be needed for both planning and financial reasons, especially given the increasing emphasis on environmental considerations in transport, but that this implies increasing tensions at the regional level which will need to be addressed in the interests of cohesion.This is a revised version of a paper presented to the European Congress, Regional Science Association International, Moscow, 1993. It is based on research funded in part by the UK Economic and Social Research Council Transport and the Environment Programme (Grant L 119251008). The research assistance of Philip Newman is gratefully acknowledged and thanks are due to two referees who provided valuable suggestions to improve the paper.