EMPLOYMENT IMPACTS OF THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1982

The Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) of 1982 was primarily a legislative response to growing concern about the condition and performance of the nation's highways. There was also a widely held belief that implementation of the act would generate additional employment. Thus the specific purpose of this study was to estimate the employment consequences of (a) increases in highway and transit expenditures and (b) increases in highway user taxes attributable to the STAA. Because of the large number of economic variables that had to be analyzed and the complex interrelationships among these variables, the research was conducted with the aid of multiequation econometric models. The results of the study indicate that the STAA of 1982 has no significant impact on the gross national product, although sectors linked closely to highway construction benefit from the act and those sensitive to higher gasoline prices, lower disposable income, and higher interest rates suffer. However, the net effect on employment is not zero because of different labor intensities among industries. Thus total employment was predicted to drop slightly in 1983 but to increase from 1984 through 1986 as the stimulus of increased highway spending gradually overtook the inhibitive effects of the tax increase. Regional variations are primarily the result of differences in the number of new construction jobs created, differences in construction wage rates, and geographic concentration of manufacturing and trade in general and motor vehicle manufacturing in particular.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1986/1074/1074-002.pdf
• Summary URL:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Application of Economic Analysis to Transportation Problems. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Butler, Stewart E
  • Schneider, Catherine G
• Publication Date: 1986

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: pp 9-15
• Monograph Title: Economic factors in the provision of transportation services
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1074
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Econometric models; Employment; Estimates; Expenditures; Gross national product; Highway user taxation; Regional economics; Variables
• Identifier Terms: Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Highways; Public Transportation; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00474354
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 03090468X
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 31 1987 12:00AM