THE IMPACTS OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE ON PROPERTY VALUES: A HIGHER-ORDER SPATIAL ECONOMETRICS APPROACH

We evaluate the impacts of enhanced transportation systems on property values for U.S. manufacturing firms, allowing for higher-order spatial error correlation. We use a state-level model of production cost and input demand that recognizes the productive contribution of public transportation infrastructure stocks. Our findings include significant impacts on property shadow values and input composition from both public highway and airport investment. We also find that these effects have a spatial dimension that depends on the proximity of the transport system; at least one and as many as three spatial error lags are significant in our estimating equations. Further, recognizing production growth from transportation system improvements augments the associated incentives for private capital investment. Copyright Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2007