This important book investigates the causes of the decline in public capital spending which has occurred in most OECD countries over the past 25 years, and estimates the macroeconomic consequences of this decline.

Governments can improve the future living conditions of their citizens in various ways including stimulating private investment, increasing spending on education and health programmes, preserving the environment and adding to the stock of public capital. In Public Capital Spending in OECD Countries the author focuses on government investment in physical capital within a macroeconomic context. He examines the consequences of the decline in public investment on physical assets such as infrastructure and the environment. The past few years have witnessed a growing awareness that especially the stock of public capital has been neglected by many OECD governments. Such a reduction in public investment may lead to a decline in economic growth, and therefore it is vital that the fall in government spending is rigorously examined.

Key features include:-

• a detailed and comprehensive review of existing literature.
• original empirical investigations using alternative techniques and different datasets.
• possible explanations for the trends in public capital spending.
• estimates of the effect of public capital spending on economic growth.

About the Author
Jan-Egbert Sturm, Centre of Economic Research, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Reviews
'Sturm manages to communicate his findings in a way that makes the book readable even to those not familiar with the field of econometrics.' -- Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie
'For the past decade public capital has been the great imponderable of economic growth studies. Most developed countries have seen a simultaneous slowing of public capital investment and overall productivity growth. Are the two related? Which causes what, to what degree? This book contains a series of very sophisticated tests to try to unravel the mysteries, in The Netherlands and throughout the OECD.' -- Edward Gramlich, University of Michigan, US
'This book applies the tools of modern econometrics to the analysis of the causes and consequences of the slowdown of public investment in the OECD nations. The work is careful and convincing. The comprehensive literature review by itself makes this a valuable volume for anyone who is interested in infrastructure spending.' -- Harvey S. Rosen, Princeton University, US
'This book will rapidly establish itself as the main reference point on public capital spending. It combines excellent argumentation with first class technical analysis.' -- Peter Jackson, University of Leicester, UK



Book Information
ISBN 9781858988276
Author Jan-Egbert Sturm
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Publisher Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd