This paper builds on Yang et al (2021) which analysed the effect of wealth inequality on UK economic growth in recent decades with a heterogeneous-agent growth model where agents can enhance individual productivity growth by undertaking entrepreneurship. In this supplementary note we examine...

We investigate the wealth effect of asset securitization in real estate and infrastructure sectors on issuing firms, based on data from 859 listed companies in China, the world's largest developing country. The data come from a manual match to securitization issuance records, spanning from 2014...

Background: Logistics plays a key role in economic performance, yet its contribution to global growth and convergence remains underexplored. This study examines how different logistics dimensions have influenced GDP per worker across countries over the period 2007-2022. Methods: Using...

The EU's Global Gateway Initiative seeks to create new strategic partnerships by supporting infrastructure investments around the world. While much attention has been paid to its geopolitical implications, its long-term trade potential remains unexplored. This paper analyses the potential impact...

Despite the sub-Saharan African (SSA) region's vast size in terms of human capital and physical capital resources, the industrial output growth in SSA still needs to catch up to the other regions. This is because of low productive skills and the dilapidated spread of infrastructural technology...

I investigate the social costs imposed by poor implementation of public infrastructure. Focusing on the period from 2005 to 2015 in Peru, when the government embarked on a nationwide initiative to expand sewerage systems, I leverage quasi-random variation in initiation of the implementation...

The recent debates on infrastructure spending have led to renewed interest in the measurement of infrastructure and its effects on growth and well-being. This paper updates estimates of one important type of infrastructure capital—highways and streets. We compare BEA's capital measures with...

This paper builds on a previous paper by the authors (Kornfeld and Fraumeni, 2022) that primarily used U.S. Federal Highway Administration Highway Statistics data to disaggregate investment in highways and streets into more detailed types to produce updated estimates of net wealth stocks and...

What determines the relative gains from improving different parts of a transportation network? Ports and roads are key components of a country’s infrastructure to access international markets. I provide a framework to jointly estimate the quality of different ports and trade costs on normal...

What determines the aggregate and distributional effects of new transportation infrastructure? One key overlooked channel is the role that infrastructure policy plays in changing the incentives of firms to enter, exit, and grow--in turn generating endogenous changes in local productivity. In...

Using rich geospatial data and causal machine learning (ML), this paper maps potential economic benefits from incremental investments in all major types of public and economic infrastructure across Africa. These 'infrastructure potential maps' cover all African populated areas at a spatial...

We present an open economy growth model incorporating various elements of fiscal policy, including government expenditure on education and public capital (infrastructure), budget deficit, internal and external public debt, public consumption, and four tax rates. This detailed description of...

Exploiting the economic dividends of the mega-infrastructure investments related to the Belt and Road Initiative as a timely global South-South cooperation model, this study follows the New Structural Economics theory to examine the effects of the BRI membership on Africa's industrialization. A...

This report explores key challenges and priorities in safeguarding Europe's critical energy infrastructure against both physical and cyber threats amid rising geopolitical tensions. It follows recent sabotage incidents and the extensive development of new offshore energy infrastructure planned...

We study residential segregation and access to public services across 1.5 million urban and rural neighborhoods in India. Muslim and Scheduled Caste segregation in India is high by global standards, and only slightly lower than Black-White segregation in the U.S. Within cities, public facilities...

We estimate the impact of infrastructure investment on conflict using 163 hydroelectric dams in Brazil (2002–2022). Leveraging the staggered rollout of construction in a difference-in-differences framework, we find that dams trigger sharp, temporary surges in land invasions, water disputes,...

Wo Schulen, Kommunalverwaltungen und Krankenhäuser schließen, zieht sich der Staat aus der Fläche zurück. Dieser Rückzug kostet nicht nur gut bezahlte Jobs und Zukunftsperspektiven, sondern auch Vertrauen in den Staat, insbesondere in strukturschwachen Regionen. In diesem Beitrag zeige ich,...

The purpose of this paper is to identify the driving elements of the South African financial sector. While South Africa's financial sector appears robust, there exists a dearth of empirical research investigating the determinants of its development. Thus, this work assesses how three critical...

This paper revisits the instrumental variable (IV) approach in Lipscomb et al. (2013, 2021, LMB) to study the impacts of electrification. We first make corrections to the construction of the dataset, including the modelled IV. Revised estimates on main outcomes and mechanisms are statistically...

Making a comprehensive comparison of subnational levels of infrastructure development in the Philippines is difficult due to the uneven availability of data on infrastructure indicators across geo-political areas. This study shows that this is possible at the regional level by developing a...

High hopes are pinned to mini-grids for rural electrification, especially in remote and sparsely populated areas. This note presents new evidence from a large evaluation of a US Millennium Challenge Corporation investment into mini-grids in Indonesia. We find that, a few years after...

This paper provides new evidence of the effects of road construction on both domestic and international trade flows in the People's Republic of China (PRC) using customs data and information on transport investments in the region, including those supported by multilateral development banks. We...

Community-driven reconstruction (CDR) is an approach to post-war reconstruction that gives discretion to local community councils in establishing priorities and overseeing the implementation of reconstruction and development activities. A series of methodologically exceptional studies has raised...

Digital technologies play a crucial role in transforming today's learning landscape. The integration of online platforms, digital learning materials, and collaborative tools has become commonplace in many countries, offering students access to various resources and opportunities for engagement...

We study firm responses to local policies through a survey experiment, providing randomized information on the competitiveness of business tax rates and highway access in their headquarters' municipality. Firms often misperceive local policy competitiveness, especially for tax rates. Investment...