Some consequences of ignoring relocations in the cost–benefit analysis of transportation infrastructure investments

McArthur, D. , Thorsen, I. and Ubøe, J. (2020) Some consequences of ignoring relocations in the cost–benefit analysis of transportation infrastructure investments. In: Thill, J.-C. (ed.) Innovations in Urban and Regional Systems. Springer: Cham, pp. 137-164. ISBN 9783030436926 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-43694-0_7)

Abstract

Traditional cost–benefit models of investments in road infrastructure are often based on demand curves assuming a given spatial distribution of jobs and households. We first use numerical experiments based on a spatial general equilibrium model to illustrate how this potentially introduces a serious prediction bias in the willingness-to-pay for the investments. Our experiments illustrate that it is not in general possible to say whether ignoring relocation effects leads to over- or underprediction of commuting flows. We identify cases of both kinds, and also cases where substantial changes in the road transportation network affect total commuting flows only marginally.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mcarthur, Dr David
• Authors: McArthur, D., Thorsen, I., and Ubøe, J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Publisher: Springer
• ISBN: 9783030436926
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy