Public Capital Expenditure in OECD Countries

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.