Transportation networks and their significance to economic development

Abstract

This article attempts to highlight the importance that transportation has in the economic development of Greece and in particular the importance of the transportation infrastructure and transportation networks, which suggest a fixed structured capital covering the total of the country. For this purpose, longitudinal and cross-sectoral statistical data are examined over a set of fundamental macroeconomic measures and metrics. Furthermore, the study attempts to highlight the structural and functional aspects composing the concept of transportation networks and to highlight the necessity of their joint consideration on the relevant research. The transportation networks that are examined in this paper are the Greek road (GRN), rail (GRAN), maritime (GMN) and air transport network (GAN), which are studied both in terms of their geometry and technical characteristics, as well as of their historical, traffic and political framework. For the empirical assessment of the transportation networks’ importance in Greece an econometric model is constructed, expressing the welfare level of the Greek regions as a multivariate function of their transportation infrastructure and of their socioeconomic environment. The further purpose of the article is to highlight, macroscopically, all the aspects related the study of transportation infrastructure and networks.