The role of infrastructure for economic growth

Σύμφωνα με τη βιβλιογραφία, οι υποδομές αυξάνουν την παραγωγικότητα, μειώνουν το κόστος παραγωγής, προσελκύουν επιχειρήσεις και παραγωγικούς συντελεστές και ενισχύουν το παραγόμενο προϊόν. Ωστόσο, δεν λείπουν και οι επικριτές οι οποίοι χαρακτηρίζουν τις θετικές επιπτώσεις των υποδομών στη μεγέθυνση αμφισβητήσιμες, στηριζόμενοι κυρίως σε οικονομετρικές προκλήσεις, στο μέγεθος της επένδυσης, στη στην επιλογή της υπό εξέτασης περιόδου κλπ. Η παρούσα διατριβή φιλοδοξεί στο να φωτίσει λίγο το ενδιαφέρον ερώτημα σχετικά με τον αντίκτυπο των υποδομών/ δημοσίου κεφαλαίου στην οικονομική μεγέθυνση, συμβάλλοντας στη συζήτηση σχετικά με το «Γρίφο των Υποδομών». Επιπλέον, στους στόχους της παρούσας προσπάθειας περιλαμβάνεται η αξιολόγηση της ευρωπαϊκής περιφερειακής πολιτικής μέσα από την ανάλυση των επιπτώσεων των υποδομών σε τρεις χώρες της Νοτίου Ευρώπης (Ελλάδας, Ιταλίας και Ισπανίας) με διαφορετικό απόθεμα δημοσίου κεφαλαίου, ενώ επίσης φιλοδοξεί να διαπιστώσει αν η χρήση νέων, περισσότερο αξιόπιστων, δεδομένων θα επηρεάσει τα τελικά συμπεράσματα. Ως εκ τούτου, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν δεδομένα σε περιφερειακό επίπεδο ώστε να αυξηθούν οι διαθέσιμες παρατηρήσεις και να διαπιστωθούν τυχόν διαπεριφερειακές διαφοροποιήσεις, πρακτική που ενισχύει την αξιοπιστία στην ανάλυση. Επιπρόσθετα, επελέγησαν δεδομένα από διεθνώς αναγνωρισμένες πηγές με σκοπό τη βελτίωση της συγκρισιμότητας των στατιστικών στοιχείων αλλά και την απαλλαγή του δείγματος από ασυνέχειες που προκύπτουν από τον τρόπο συλλογής των στοιχείων. Περιλήφθησαν όλα τα είδη των υποδομών που ήταν διαθέσιμα ανά χώρα για τον εντοπισμό του ολιστικού αποτελέσματος του δημοσίου κεφαλαίου πάνω στο προϊόν. Ειδικά για την Ελλάδα, καταγράφηκαν τα δεδομένα για τις υποδομές ενώ κατασκευάστηκε νέα σχετική χρονοσειρά με τη μέθοδο της Συνεχούς Απογραφής (Perpetual Inventory Method - ΡΙΜ). Η εκτίμηση των χρονοσειρών έγινε με τη βοήθεια μιας τύπου Cobb-Douglas συνάρτησης παραγωγής σε διάφορες μορφές. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι οι υποδομές είναι στατικά σημαντικές για όλες τις χώρες και είναι συμβατά με εκείνα άλλων ερευνών. Δεν λείπουν οι διαφοροποιήσεις μεταξύ των χωρών, με την Ιταλία να παρουσιάζει τις χαμηλότερες ελαστικότητες μεταξύ των χωρών της Νοτίου Ευρώπης. Τα παραπάνω αποτελέσματα συνηγορούν ότι υπάρχει ακόμα χώρος για περαιτέρω έρευνα με έμφαση στην εκτίμηση των επιπτώσεων των υποδομών σε περιφερειακό επίπεδο, ή στον αν μεταβάλλεται ο αντίκτυπος του δημόσιου κεφαλαίου στο προϊόν ανά είδος/ κατηγορία υποδομών. Φυσικά, τα αποτελέσματα που θα προκύψουν από την αξιοποίηση διαφορετικών οικονομετρικών τεχνικών ενέχουν μεγάλη σημασία στη διερεύνηση της σχέσης υποδομών και μεγέθυνσης. Τέλος, δεν θα πρέπει να αποκλείεται η ανάλυση ζητημάτων όπως υποδομές και διαφθορά, η χρήση φυσικών μεγεθών αντί νομισματικών, η αναζήτηση νέων τρόπων χρηματοδότησης των υποδομών, ή οι περιβαλλοντικές προκλήσεις κ.ά.

REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY AND THE ROLE OF CAPITAL STOCK

This paper reports on the availability of regional capital stock data,1 in the form of new/updated regional (NUTS2 level) capital stock estimates,2 building on an approach (Perpetual Inventory Method) which had been previously developed for the European Commission. The particular focus here is on the UK and how these data are used to shed light on regional labour productivity disparities. Using a NUTS2 level dataset constructed for the period 2000–16, we use a dynamic spatial panel approach from Baltagi et al. (2019) to estimate a model relating productivity to output (growth or levels) and augmented by explicit incorporation of capital stock plus various other covariates such as human capital. We find that regional variations in capital stocks per worker make a significant contribution to regional variations in labour productivity, but the geography of human capital is also highly relevant. Moreover, we give evidence to show that as human capital rises, notably as we move from the regions to London, the impact of capital stock per worker is less. The effect of capital stock depends on the level of human capital.

Estimating exposure of residential assets to natural hazards in Europe using open data

Natural hazards affect many types of tangible assets, the most valuable of which are often residential assets, comprising buildings and household contents. Yet, information necessary to derive exposure in terms of monetary value at the level of individual houses is often not available. This includes building type, size, quality, or age. In this study, we provide a universal method for estimating exposure of residential assets using only publicly available or open data. Using building footprints (polygons) from OpenStreetMap as a starting point, we utilized high-resolution elevation models of 30 European capitals and pan-European raster datasets to construct a Bayesian-network-based model that is able to predict building height. The model was then validated with a dataset of (1) buildings in Poland endangered by sea level rise, for which the number of floors is known, and (2) a sample of Dutch and German houses affected in the past by fluvial and pluvial floods, for which usable floor space area is known. Floor space of buildings is an important basis for approximating their economic value, including household contents. Here, we provide average national-level gross replacement costs of the stock of residential assets in 30 European countries, in nominal and real prices, covering the years 2000–2017. We either relied on existing estimates of the total stock of assets or made new calculations using the perpetual inventory method, which were then translated into exposure per square metre of floor space using data on countries' dwelling stocks. The study shows that the resulting standardized residential exposure values provide much better coverage and consistency compared to previous studies.

Estimating exposure of residential assets to natural hazards in Europe using open data

Natural hazards affect many types of tangible assets, the most valuable of which are often residential assets, comprising buildings and household contents. Yet, information necessary to derive exposure in terms of monetary value at the level of individual houses is often not available. This includes building type, size, quality or age. In this study, we provide a universal method for estimating exposure of residential assets using only publicly-available or open data. Using building footprints (polygons) from OpenStreetMap as a starting point, we utilized high-resolution elevation models of 30 European capitals and a set of pan-European raster dataset to construct a Bayesian Network-based model that is able to predict building height. The model was then validated with a dataset of: (1) buildings in Poland endangered by sea level rise, for which the number of floors is known, and (2) a sample of Dutch and German houses affected in the past by fluvial and pluvial floods, for which usable floor space area is known. Floor space of buildings is an important basis for approximating their economic value, including household contents. Here, we provide average national-level gross replacement costs of the stock of residential assets in 30 European countries, in nominal and real prices, covering years 2000–2017. We relied either on existing estimates of the total stock of assets or made new calculations using the Perpetual Inventory Method, which were then translated into exposure per m2 of floor space using data on countries' dwelling stocks. The study shows that the resulting standardized residential exposure values provide much better coverage and consistency compared to previous studies.

Infrastructure Investment with Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Economic Growth in Developing Countries in Asia

Infrastructure is an important factor of economic growth in developing countries, and economic growth is constrained by the inadequacy of infrastructure, as financing is expensive. The advantage of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in infrastructure is well recognized, allowing financing for expensive infrastructure investments. This study examines the importance of PPP for infrastructure to economic growth in nine developing countries in Asia. The estimated period is from 1990 to 2015 using panel data with fixed effect. The dependent variable is GDP, and independent variables are PPP infrastructure stock, non-PPP infrastructure stock, labor force and literacy rate as a proxy variable of quality of labor. This study estimates PPP infrastructure stock using the Perpetual Inventory Method and controls for the external effect of the Asian Economic Crisis in 1998.This study finds positive effects of PPP infrastructure stock on economic growth. PPP infrastructure stock is an addition to the existing infrastructure stock. The result of this study encourages more PPP investment in developing countries in Asia for economic growth.KeywordsEconomic Growth, Developing Countries, Infrastructure Stock and Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure

Estimating the built environment stock in Cape Verde

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the estimates of the value of the built environment stock in Cape Verde, a Sub-Saharan African country that is scattered through ten relatively small islands. Design/methodology/approach It applies the perpetual inventory method in a long series of construction investment data at 1980 and 2007 constant prices published by the Cape Verde’s National Statistics Office. Findings The results show that the capital-output ratio is similar to those in the advanced industrial countries. The high value of this indicator suggests that the country should shift its focus from building new investment projects to managing the considerable amount of built stock. Originality/value The main originality of the paper comes from the use of different data sets from the National Statistical Office to construct the indicators of the construction industry activity in a comprehensive way.

Real Capital Stock Estimation for Industries Using Perpetual Inventory Method: A Methodological Exploration

A study of industrial structure and growth, in terms of capital intensity and capital productivity of industries, inevitably encapsulates the requirement and associated challenges of estimation of capital stock time series in real terms. An incorrect (under- or over-) estimation of real capital stock leads to dubious conclusion and, thus, ill-informed policy implications derived from the analysis. The industrial survey database–ASI–reports the time series of capital stocks for industries in nominal (at current prices) terms instead of in real (at constant prices) terms which is more meaningful for the analysis. The choice of correct deflator, consideration of suitable depreciation, discard and revaluation of capital stocks, make real capital stock estimation a matter of disquisition. A plethora of studies addresses these challenges of capital estimation deploying perpetual inventory method. However, the approaches used in the previous studies pose limitations in terms of price deflator selection, consideration of benchmark period for initial capital and choice of depreciation rates and methods. The present study addresses these limitations for the registered Indian manufacturing industries. The result of the present study exhibits a robust approach of real capital stock estimate and an advancement from the existing approaches.

THE SIZE OF AN AIR SHED: A MACROECONOMIC STOCK ESTIMATE

This paper presents a simple method for estimating the size of environmental capital (KN) assets that are otherwise mistaken as infinite. An illustration is provided for Australia’s air shed. The method draws on the perpetual inventory method (PIM) used in macroeconomics for measuring the size of manufactured capital (KM) stock. While the application of the PIM for measuring KM is based on net accumulation over time, with KN it involves net depreciation over time. The depreciation, however, can be negated by the resilience capabilities of KN assets based on their biophysical characteristics. Owing to sparse data, two proxy methods for estimating the resilience coefficient are developed. These proxies rely on emission targets and standards that have been discussed in Australia’s policy context.

PENGEMBANGAN SISTEM PENDUKUNG KEPUTUSAN PENGADAAN DAN PERSEDIAAN BARANG DENGAN METODE PERPETUAL INVENTORY METHOD DAN ECONOMIC ORDER QUANTITY ( Studi Kasus : Divisi Logistik Rumah Sakit Krakatau Medika Cilegon)

The accuracy of data is the capital for making a very useful information for the company business continuity. The value of data can be very expensive if it can be made into a good information and the right target. Procurement and inventory data is one of the things to note in particular the logistics division on the company. Therefore it needs a system using a particular method that can be support the data management of goods procurement and it can also help the managers take the decision of stock control. Based on that, it can be developed to integrated system between procurement data processing and the amount of purchasing materials a single web-based application that implement a method of stock record such as perpetual inventory method and economic order quantity method as well as the methods used to support the decision in calculating the amount of inventory to be optimal. Using the development of the decision support system, some errors related to the recording of data on procurement and inaccuracies in determining the amount of inventory can be reduced. Then the company can avoid the material losses.