Output responses to infrastructure investment in the Netherlands, 1850-1913

Peter Groote, Jan Jacobs and Jan-Egbert Sturm

No 199524, GGDC Research Memorandum from Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen

Abstract: This paper combines a new historical data set regarding capital formation in infrastructure in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century with data-oriented econometric techniques aimed at testing the causal relationship between these infrastructural investments and economic growth. The resulting vector autoregression (VAR) model is analysed further with impulse response analysis. The results show that the time series characteristics of both capital formation and GDP are trend stationary, which is a fundamental difference with their twentieth century counterparts. The paper finds strong evidence of both a long term and medium term or short term impact. In the short run positive expenditure effects are partly offset bu negative transitional dynamics. To fine tune the analysis we have exploited the possibility to disaggregate the data set in basic and complementary infrastructure investment. Whereas the effect on output is significantly positive for basic infrastructure investment, it is absent for complementary infrastructure investment.

Date: 1995
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/265438772 (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:gro:rugggd:199524

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GGDC Research Memorandum from Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Hanneke Tamling ().