Infrastructure and social welfare in metropolitan America

Andrew Haughwout

Economic Policy Review, 2001, issue Dec, No v.7 no.3, 16 pages

Abstract: Public infrastructure investment may indirectly affect firm productivity and household welfare through its impact on the location of economic activity. Existing infrastructure policies encourage firms and households to move from dense urban environments to the surrounding suburbs. Nevertheless, several recent studies have suggested that the concentration of producers and consumers within cities results in \\"agglomeration economies\\" that are socially beneficial. In light of these findings, the author recommends the creation of infrastructure investment authorities that would have the power to select and finance projects that promote the overall well-being of a given region. Such authorities would most likely direct a larger share of infrastructure investment to the central cities.

Keywords: Infrastructure (Economics); Investments; Public welfare; Industrial location (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/epr/01v07n3/0112haug.html (text/html)
https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/epr/01v07n3/0112haug.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fednep:y:2001:i:dec:p:1-16:n:v.7no.3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Economic Policy Review from Federal Reserve Bank of New York Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Gabriella Bucciarelli ().