Infrastructure investment, endogenous growth and economic convergence

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in regional growth theory. One strand of this has been the work on endogenous growth processes and the natural potential for regional economic convergence. On the other hand, the appearance of a seminal paper by Aschauer in the late 1980s linking productivity growth to infrastructure provision provided arguments for a rethinking of the role of public policy in stimulating regional development. In particular this latter work offered a case for enhanced public sector activity at a time when mainstream economists favored a greater role for the private sector, a lowering of the tax burden and a liberal stance on regulation. The empirical findings have subsequently been the subject of further analysis and the theories which could potentially underpin them have been reviewed. This paper examines the links between this work on the importance of public capital and that on the role of endogenous growth processes.