Revista Internacional de Economia e Ciências de Gestão

A critical review of the wider economic benefits of transport infrastructure

Abstract

Peter Abelson

The standard evaluation of transport infrastructure focuses on transport user benefits. Wider economic benefits (WEBs) are claims, often large claims, for additional economic benefits over and above transport user benefits. This paper reviews the four main forms of WEB: agglomeration economies, the value of additional output in imperfectly competitive markets, labour supply effects, and various possible impacts of transport infrastructure on economic development, sometimes described as place making