Work

Preventing competition because of ‘solidarity’: rhetoric and reality of airport investments in Spain

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: From a public interest perspective, there could be a justification for constraining market mechanisms with the aim of progressive redistribution. However, some policies might be based on selfish motivations of government agents. In this article, we empirically contrast if the infrastructure policy is based only on public interest motivations or if it is also based on the private motivations of policy makers. In this way, Spain infrastructure policy provides a useful policymaking field to test hypothesis about the behaviour of policy makers. We find some evidence regarding the strength of political motivations in explaining such behaviour. In fact, results from our analysis show that political motivations can eventually play a more relevant role than social welfare maximization.

Source: Applied Economics

DOI: 10.1080/00036840701522846

Authors: Germá Bel, Xavier Fageda

Institutions: Barcelona School of Economics, Universitat de Barcelona

Language: English

Topic: Aviation Industry Analysis and Trends

Subfield: General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: green

Funders: Harvard University, Fundación Rafael del Pino