2nd ERSA-REGIO Academic Lecture 2019
20 June 2019, DG REGIO premises, Brussels, Belgium

Speaker: Prof. Patricia Melo,  Lisbon School of Economics and Management

Presentation title: Transport investment, economic performance and regional development

Abstract: There is a long history of research on the role of transport investment on economic outcome. At the same time, transport infrastructure has been one of the main investment policies used by policymakers to promote economic growth and regional development. Transport improvements reduce firms’ costs and enhance access to input and output markets, promoting greater economic integration, scale economies, competition, and positive agglomeration externalities due to increased local density of economic activities. However, and in contrast to the early estimates of the output elasticity of transport obtained from macro-economic studies, which tended to produce strong benefits, more recent studies using less aggregate data and sophisticated modelling techniques reveal considerably weaker economic gains from transport. Furthermore, there is also evidence that reducing transport costs, thus improving transport accessibility, can generate uneven spatial spillover effects due to the relocation of economic activity and lead to wider spatial disparities by benefiting more the larger urban agglomerations and the locations close to transport nodes and along transport corridors. The scope and nature of such effects can differ according to type of transport mode. This talk will provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the topic, what it means for policymaking aiming to use transport as a lever for regional development, and highlight some of the main remaining challenges needing attention from scholars.

Discussant: Prof.dr. Taede Tillema, University of Groningen. KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis

When and where:  20 June 2019, 15:00-17:00; DG REGIO, VIP ROOM, Avenue de Beaulieu 1, Brussels.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN: Registration is free but mandatory. Please send an email to office@ersa.org and receive the link to register.

You cannot attend? The lecture will also be web-streamed   Webstreaming Link

You can learn more on past Lectures  here or  you watch the videos on ERSA YouTube Channel “Lectures”  or visit Inforegio website

 

 

 

 

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