Investment in transport infrastructure

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The series Working Papers on Economics is published by the Office for Economic Studies at the Banco de la República (Central Bank of Colombia). The works published are provisional, and their authors are fully responsible for the opinions expressed in them, as well as for possible mistakes. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Banco de la República or its Board of Directors.

AUTHOR OR EDITOR
Ligia Alba Melo-Becerra
Jorge Hernán Toro-Córdoba
Héctor M. Zárate-Solano

The series Borradores de Economía (Working Papers on Economics) contributes to the dissemination and promotion of the work by researchers from the institution. On multiple occasions, these works have been the result of collaborative work with individuals from other national or international institutions. This series is indexed at Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)

Publication Date:
Friday, 04 December 2020

The opinions contained in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not commit Banco de la República or its Board of Directors. 

Abstract

This paper assesses the investment carried out in transportation infrastructure in Colombia, which has diverse origins and sources of financing, among which resources from the General Budget of the Nation (PGN), from the General System of Participations and own resources of the regional governments, revenues from the General System of Royalties and resources from Public-Private Associations stand out. The exploratory analysis of the information supports the conclusion that at the level of the Central National Government, there is a longterm bias against public investment. Additionally, by using a methodology based on the linear error correction model and its extensions in the non-linear field, the study also evaluates whether there is a pro-cyclical or counter-cyclical behavior of public transport investment in Colombia. The results indicate that investment plays the role of a buffer variable that tends to be cut in bad times but presents some counter-cyclical responses at the beginning of good
times.