Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/70207 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
cege Discussion Papers No. 122
Publisher: 
University of Göttingen, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege), Göttingen
Abstract: 
We show with the aid of pooled OLS estimations that investments in improved road infrastructure have the potential to signi cantly reduce transport costs. However, this result can only be clearly con rmed for industrial countries and is of primary importance for production and transportation of agricultural goods. For developing and transition countries we fi nd other determinants such as weather conditions to be more important in determining transport costs. A key variable, especially in these countries, is corruption. At very high levels corruption has the potential to prevent positive effects from roads on transport costs or to even reverse them. This paper contributes to the literature on infrastructure investment by introducing and applying an internationally comparable measure of transport costs which can be calculated for a large and growing number of countries. We isolate important determinants of transport costs and provide insights into international and sectoral differences concerning the impact of roads on transport costs. We conclude that investment in transport infrastructure can have substantial positive effects especially on agricultural production and the efficient marketing of agricultural products but only if speci c conditions are in place.
Subjects: 
Infrastructure
Transport networks
Transport costs
Agriculture
public investment
development
JEL: 
O11
R42
O18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
594.37 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.