Infrastructure Investment, Labor Productivity, and International Competitiveness: The Case of Portugal

Alfredo Pereira and Rui Pereira

No 71, GEE Papers from Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia

Abstract: This study analyzes the effects of infrastructure investment on labor productivity at the industry level using a newly developed data set for infrastructure investments in Portugal. We consider twenty-two sectors and twelve infrastructure assets. We focus on the differential effects on traded and non-traded sectors. We find, first, that investment in national roads have positive effects, particularly large for public services, while the effects of investments in municipal roads are mixed, and investments in highways have mostly benefited the non-traded sectors. Second, we find that railroad investments, and to a lesser extent airports have clearly biased labor productivity gains toward the non-traded sectors, while the effects of port investments are more muted and mixed. Third, for social infrastructure investments, the effects tend to be large and again particularly favorable to the non-traded sectors. Fourth, for public utilities the effects are in general small, with the exception of investments in telecommunications, which have large positive effects mainly on non-traded sectors. We conclude that infrastructure investments have contributed to the growth of labor productivity in Portugal but have done so in a way that has benefitted mostly non-traded goods sectors. This may be a matter of concern for a small open economy in a currency union and with a development model greatly reliant on exports.

Keywords: Infrastructure Investment; Labor Productivity; Traded and non-traded sectors; VAR; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C32 E22 H54 L90 L98 O52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2017-06, Revised 2017-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac, nep-tre and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.gee.gov.pt/RePEc/WorkingPapers/GEE_PAPERS_71.pdf First version, 2017 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Infrastructure Investment, Labor Productivity, and International Competitiveness: The Case of Portugal (2020)
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