46 research outputs found
The economic evaluation of major infrastructure projects notes on HSR projects
No full textIn a second wave of econometric research, the estimations were much less optimistic (Evans and Karras, 1994; Holtz-Eakin, 1994; Holtz-Eakin and Schwartz, 1995; Holtz-Eakin and Lovely, 1996). Beyond the discussion on the value of the elasticities, the research on the economic impact of public infrastructure investment has shown that the estimated elasticities of productivity with respect to the stock of public capital are very sensitive to the present level of this stock. Aschauer’s high elasticities correspond to a period of low growth in the net stock of public capital. For example, in the case of Spain, de la Fuente and Vives (1995), Goerlich and Mas (2001) and Mas et al. (1996), among others, obtained higher elasticities in the 1970s than in the 1990s when the core infrastructure network was already built (from 0.14 to 0.02).2271
The BCA of HSR: Should the Government Invest in High Speed Rail Infrastructure?
No full textThis paper deals with public investment in High-Speed Rail (HSR) infrastructure and tries to understand the economic rationale for allocating public money to the construction of new HSR lines. The examination of data on costs and demand shows that the case for investing in HSR requires several conditions to be met: an ex ante high volume of traffic in the corridor where the new lines are built, significant time savings, high average willingness of potential users to pay, the release of capacity in the conventional rail network and airports. On the contrary, net environmental benefits seem to be insignificant in influencing the social desirability of HSR investment. This paper discusses, within a cost-benefit analysis framework, under which conditions the expected benefits could justify the investment in HSR projects.</jats:p
Secretome Compartment Is a Valuable Source of Biomarkers for Cancer-Relevant Pathways
No full textIn principle, targeted therapies have optimal activity against a specific subset of tumors that depend upon the targeted molecule or pathway for growth, survival, or metastasis. Consequently, it is important in drug development and clinical practice to have predictive biomarkers that can reliably identify patients who will benefit from a given therapy. We analyzed tumor cell-line secretomes (conditioned cell media) to look for predictive biomarkers; secretomes represent a potential source for potential biomarkers that are expressed in intracellular signaling and therefore may reflect changes induced by targeted therapy. Using Gene Ontology, we classified by function the secretome proteins of 12 tumor cell lines of different histotypes. Representations and hierarchical relationships among the functional groups differed among the cell lines. Using bioinformatics tools, we identified proteins involved in intracellular signaling pathways. For example, we found that secretome proteins related to TGF-beta signaling in thyroid cancer cells, such as vasorin, CD109, and βIG-H3 (TGFBI), were sensitive to RPI-1 and dasatinib treatments, which have been previously demonstrated to be effective in blocking cell proliferation. The secretome may be a valuable source of potential biomarkers for detecting cancer and measuring the effectiveness of cancer therapies
Some stylized facts about high-speed rail: A review of HSR experiences around the world
No full textAfter collecting information on 166 high-speed rail (HSR) projects across the world, this paper examines some of the most relevant empirical issues related to the implementation of this transport technology in recent years. We firstly discuss the economic definition of HSR, trying to identify its different development and operating models. Then, we provide what could be considered as a range of actual cost values of building and maintaining a high-speed rail infrastructure. A similar analysis is carried out regarding the operating and maintenance costs of high-speed rail services. Some information on external costs is also provided. We finally deal with current demand and its projections, and try to draw some inferences about its future evolution.28191,024Q3SSC
A critical assessment of the economics behind the European Transport Policy
No full textIn this paper we critically assess some economic principles underlying the European transport policy in recent years. In particular, our analysis focuses on three main ideas. The first one is the promising role played by the vertical unbundling of transport infrastructures and services as a key instrument to introduce more competition in this industry. The second is how efficient pricing mechanisms could be more extensively used to mitigate the negative consequences of some transport externalities. And the last, but not the least important, is the increasing need of a more comprehensive economic analysis of large infrastructure projects in order to allocate the funds where the network effects associated to the transport system as a whole could provide larger social returns.21619324Sello FECYTESC
The social appraisal of transport infrastructure
No full textLas infraestructuras contribuyen al bienestar social cuando cumplen una condición muy simple: los beneficios sociales han de ser mayores que sus costes sociales. La sociedad suele contemplar las infraestructuras con un cierto sesgo consistente en la creencia de cuanta más, más grande y de nueva tecnología mejor. El concepto de coste de oportunidad del dinero público no parece pertenecer al lenguaje de muchos de los que deciden sobre la construcción de grandes obras públicas. En este trabajo se defiende la evaluación económica de los proyectos de inversión en infraestructuras de manera que se evite la construcción de obras de dudosa rentabilidad social destinándose los fondos públicos donde son los beneficios sociales compensan el coste de oportunidad de su utilización.Transport infrastructure contributes to social welfare when a basic condition
is fulfilled: social benefits should exceed social costs. It has been common to see
infrastructure with a biased perspective leading to the belief that the more, the bigger
and the more advance technologically the better. The concept of opportunity cost of public
money does not seem to be understood by many who take crucial decisions on the
construction of new large projects. In this paper, the economic evaluation of projects is
defended as a way to avoid the construction of socially unprofitable projects.210187Clasificación JEL: D61, H41, K23, L52, L91, L97Sello FECYTESC
On the treatment of foreigners and foreign-owned firms in the cost-benefit analysis of transport projects
No full textThis paper addresses the issue of the treatment of foreigners and foreign-owned firms in the cost-benefit analysis of transport projects. The distinction between the indirect utility function of national and non-national allows the consideration of some relevant cases. These are: the common case of zero weights to foreign consumers, and foreign companies shipping their producer surpluses abroad; the case of local firms owned by foreigners; the altruist local household case; the consequence of fixed factors (for example, land) for the evaluation of foreign surpluses in infrastructure investment; and the case of transnational projects with asymmetrical distribution of costs and benefits.2111990,695919,0Q2Q3SSC
Economic evaluation of the high speed rail Madrid-Barcelona.
No full textIn order to know whether a particular High Speed Rail project is worthwhile, it is necessary to have an estimation of the initial investment and the flow of benefits and costs during the project life. An estimation of the benefits requires having a measure of the users diverted from other modes of transport and the number of users generated thanks to the new transport alternative and how much the average user is willing to pay for this change.Our analysis is based on the estimation of disaggregated demand models using information provided by travellers in the main corridors: Madrid-Zaragoza and Madrid- Barcelona. Based on a simplified model for the economic appraisal of the Madrid- Barcelona High Speed Rail line the estimated demand parameters and cost structure, we have obtained a set of minimum demand thresholds required for a positive net present value in this corridor, under some assumptions of feasible ranges for key parameters like the social rate of discount, project life, annual growth rate of net benefits and the proportion of generated traffic.793545SSC
