Showing 1 - 10 of 427
Which Americans experience the worst infrastructure? What are the costs of living with that infrastructure? We measure road roughness throughout America using vertical acceleration data from Uber rides across millions of American roads. Our measure correlates strongly and positively with other...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014447302
This paper offers experimental evidence that crime can be successfully reduced by changing the situational environment that potential victims and offenders face. We focus on a ubiquitous but surprisingly understudied feature of the urban landscape - street lighting - and report the first...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012479748
What is the impact on intra-national trade and regional economic outcomes when the quality and lane-capacity of an existing paved road network is expanded significantly? We investigate this question for the case of Turkey, which undertook a large-scale public investment in roads during the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012629448
We predict the amount, share, and value of land dedicated to roadways within and across 316 US Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Despite the amount and value of land dedicated to roadway, our study provides the first such estimate across a broad range of metropolitan areas. Our basic...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10015056148
The recent debates on infrastructure spending have led to renewed interest in the measurement of infrastructure and its effects on growth and well-being. This paper updates estimates of one important type of infrastructure capital--highways and streets. We compare BEA's capital measures with...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013210073
Infrastructure costs in the United States are high and rising. The procurement process is one potential cost driver. In this paper we conduct a survey of procurement practices across the 50 states. We survey both employees at each state department of transportation (DOT) and the road builders...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014372462
We study highway procurement in Texas during the Great Recession and stimulus period, finding increased competition with more bidders and lower bids. We argue that the recession reduced opportunity costs, in part due to a slump in private-sector construction. We evaluate costs and efficiency by...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10015171700
How effective are policies aimed at integrating isolated regions? We answer this question using the construction of a highway system in one of the poorest regions in the United States. With construction starting in 1965, the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) ultimately consisted of...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012456601
Democracy is not an absorbing state; transitions to autocratic rule have been frequent throughout history and often followed periods of instability under democratic rule. In this paper, we ask whether autocrats can win support among voters by showcasing their ability to restore order and to "get...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012458514
Ethnic favoritism is seen as antithetical to development. This paper provides credible quantification of the extent of ethnic favoritism using data on road building in Kenyan districts across the 1963-2011 period. Guided by a model it then examines whether the transition in and out of democracy...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012459263