International Transport Forum Discussion Papers

ISSN :
2223-439X (online)
DOI :
10.1787/2223439x
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The International Transport Forum at the OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 52 member countries. It acts as a strategic think tank for transport policy and organizes an annual summit of ministers. Our work is underpinned by economic research, statistics collection and policy analysis, often undertaken in collaboration with many of the world's leading research figures in academia, business and government. This series of Discussion Papers is intended to disseminate the ITF’s research findings rapidly among specialists in the field concerned.
Previous papers addressing these policy issues are available via http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/20708270
 

Cart or Horse: Transport and Economic Growth You or your institution have access to this content

Authors:
Tim Leunig1
Author Affiliations
  • 1: London School of Economics, United Kingdom

Publication Date
01 Apr 2011
Bibliographic information
No:
2011/04
Pages
34
DOI
10.1787/5kg9mq4ws027-en

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This paper argues that transport is more cart than horse, in that transport improvements are not the most important driver of economic growth for most countries. Nevertheless there are circumstances in which transport is particularly important. Big transport breakthroughs – such as replacing walking with railways, or creating a highways network for the first time – do have big effects, but these are unlikely to be seen again in developed economies. Instead transport in developed economies is best seen as having a supporting role. If it is neglected, it can constrain growth, as congestion and unreliable transport systems can exact a heavy price. But as long as the transport system is "good enough", the returns to greater transport investment will be relatively limited.