The impact of accessibility to the road network on the economy of peripheral regions of the EU

Topics

• Mobility
• Regional value added

Abstract

The study has examined the links beween economic performace and accessibility to the road network for 18 peripheral regions of the EU, covering the full spread of GDP within the EU. Economic performance was measured by change in GDP and unemployment levels. In no country was found to be a significant relationship between accessibility to the road network and economic performance in the regions analysed. There is no evidence that, within peripheral regions of Europe, those areas with better accessibility to the road network, have better performing economies. The results come on top of a large body of work which indicates that transport costs are no longer a significant factor to firms in peripheral regions and, indeed, that better transport links can even harm the economies of weaker regions.

Reference to the original publication

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