Regional infrastructure investment and efficiency

Using Spanish data, this paper shows that improvements in the road network have a positive effect on private investment in capital assets, and this effect increases with the level of economic development of a geographical area. We use aggregate data at the provincial level between the years 1977–2008. Additionally, we propose a system of equations in order to approximate the long-run effects. We find statistical evidence of efficiency loss associated with the distributional aims of the infrastructure policy. More importantly, since the effects of infrastructure investment are permanent, in the long run, efficiency costs will be higher.