Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment

Policy makers often call for increased spending on infrastructure, which can encompass a broad range of investments, from roads and bridges to digital networks that will expand access to high-speed broadband. Some point to the near-term macroeconomic benefits, such as job creation, associated with infrastructure spending; others point to the long-term effects of such spending on productivity and economic growth.

Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment explores the links between infrastructure investment and economic outcomes, analyzing key economic issues in the funding and management of infrastructure projects. It includes new research on the short-run stimulus effects of infrastructure spending, develops new estimates of the stock of US infrastructure capital, and explores incentive aspects of public-private partnerships with particular attention to their allocation of risk. The volume provides a reference for researchers seeking to study infrastructure issues and for policymakers tasked with determining the appropriate level and allocation of infrastructure spending.

Edward L. Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a research associate and director of the working group on urban economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research. James M. Poterba is the Mitsui Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and president and chief executive officer of the National Bureau of Economic Research.