Wider economic benefits of transport schemes in remote rural areas

Remote rural areas tend to experience slower population growth (sometimes decline), slower growth in gross domestic product (GDP), fewer employment opportunities and lower productivity relative to the economy as a whole. Transport policy interventions are typically focussed on addressing structural economic weaknesses. Yet despite a strong general interest in wider economic benefits, their relevance to schemes in remote rural areas has received very little previous discussion. The authors argue that remote rural areas are likely to exhibit market distortions in the goods and labour markets, primarily arising from a lack of alternatives and choices in these areas. The authors also illustrate the empirical importance of the wider economic benefits, caused by these distortions. Using case studies from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland to do so. The authors find that focusing the cost benefit analysis only on the primary transport market can significantly underestimate welfare benefits, and that the degree of underestimation varies significantly case by case. It is highest for schemes where the impacts on business and employment are large and where all of the output and employment effects occur in a remote rural area.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2014.09.022
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885914000638
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07398859
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Laird, James J
  • Mackie, Peter J
• Publication Date: 2014-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 92-102
• Serial:
  • Research in Transportation Economics
  • Volume: 47
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0739-8859
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/07398859

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Businesses; Case studies; Economic benefits; Employment; Infrastructure; Rural areas
• Geographic Terms: Highlands (Scotland)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01551548
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 27 2015 11:23AM