Essays on economic appraisal of transport infrastructure: Examples from aviation and fixed fjord links

This dissertation focuses on economic appraisal of transport infrastructure investments. The main objective is to expand the knowledge about how improvements in transport infrastructure can influence economic efficiency and ecomomic development. Generally, the focus throughout the dissertation is on assessing economic benefits of transportation. The cost side of the story is only breifly discussed. There are several methods in use for economic impact assessment, and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the most widespread one. CBA is recommended as the most convenient method for evaluating transport infrastructure investments at the project level, but there is a potential for improvements. Inter alia, this potential is acknowledged within the following three areas. First, CBA in transport has traditionally been carried out primarily in the road transport sector. The method has a potential for being adapted and applied in other parts of the transport sector (as well as in other sectors). Second, there are special issues regarding larger changes in the transport system, and it should be clarified how the CBA is able to reveal the true benefits of such changes. Third, there have been doubts about whether the CBA has been able to capture the real effects of infrastructure investments and make clear how local economic development is affected. These three topics are addressed in the published papers that are parts of this dissertation: 1. Economic Appraisel in Norwegian Aviation. Published in Journal of Air Transport Management Vol. 6 No. 3 2000. 2. Strait Crossings and Economic Development. Developing economic impact assessment by means of ex post analysis. Published in Transport Policy Vol. 4 No. 4 1997. 3. Do Fixed Links Affect Local Industry? A Case Study. Published in Journal of ransport Geography Vol. 9 No. 1 2001.dr.ing.dr.ing