Proceedings of The International Conference on Advanced Research in Management, Economics and Accounting
Year: 2019
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/armea.2019.09.978
The Relationship between Transportation Infrastructures Investments and Economic Growth in Turkey
Emin Efecan AKTAS
ABSTRACT:
It is stated that transportation infrastructure, which is understood within the scope of highway, railway, airline and maritime, is an important determinant of productivity and economic growth. The lack of adequate transportation infrastructure may adversely affect economic performance by limiting market expansion, material transport and labor migration. Theoretically, the development of transportation infrastructure and services reduces input costs through reduced transport costs and increased accessibility, and creates employment by increasing private investment and promoting trade. This has a positive impact on the overall economic performance. The impact of transportation infrastructure on economic performance may be brought about by the decrease in production costs, increase in income and investments. While infrastructure investments are seen as a way of influencing public policies for long-term growth and productivity, many studies have been carried out to determine the effects of infrastructure investments on national and regional economic development. Highways constitute the majority of actual investment in the transportation infrastructures in Turkey. In this study, the relationship between highway transportation infrastructure investments and economic growth is analyzed in Turkey. Panel co-integration test based on a VAR analysis is performed and annual data of highway network length from 1984-2017 and GDP per capita is used in the study. Based on findings, it is concluded that there is a strong relationship between transportation infrastructure investments and economic growth in Turkey for the determined period.
Keywords: economic performance; highway network; highway transportation; panel cointegration; VAR analysis.