Special Issue "Evaluating the Socioeconomic Impact of Infrastructure Investment in an Uncertain World"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Asst. Prof. Zhenhua Chen
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
City and Regional Planning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
Interests: regional economic impact analysis; transportation infrastructure; risk and resilience; big data analytics
Prof. Dr. Hongchang Li
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Interests: transportation economics and policy; high speed railway; government governance
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Roger W. Vickerman
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Economics, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7FS, UK;Transport Strategy Centre, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Interests: transport economics; regional development; European integration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Infrastructure investment plays an indispensable role in promoting regional economic growth and improving the quality of life. A valid understanding of the socioeconomic impact of transportation infrastructure is fundamental, as it helps government and investment agencies not only justify the return to the investment being deployed, it also facilitates rational decision-making for future investment. While many previous studies have attempted to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of infrastructure investment from both ex-ante and ex-post perspectives, the comprehensive understanding of the extent to which the infrastructure development has affected or is expected to affect society, the economy, and quality of life remains limited. Part of the reason for this is because the world is changing dynamically due to the influences of climate change, geopolitical conflict and cooperation among countries and regions, uncertainty, and policy changes.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has further enlarged the challenges of infrastructure development. While infrastructure investment strategies in some countries are focused on short-term bailouts as a stimulus for economic growth (especially in relation to recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19), to what extent the sustainability in the provision of public transport services (urban transit, international airline) and the long-term survival of services can be ensured remains unclear. These disturbances have made an accurate assessment and understanding of the socioeconomic impacts of infrastructure investment prohibitively challenging.

In addition, due to the rapid development and adoption of new services and technologies, such as high-speed rail, autonomous vehicles, 5G telecommunication, and Hyperloop systems, new opportunities for infrastructure investment were generated. However, our understanding of the wider socioeconomic impact of the investments in these domains remains scant. Furthermore, while countries in the developing world still suffer from a lack of infrastructure investment to support the rapidly rising demand of socioeconomic activities, other nations in the developed world and the emerging economies (e.g., Brazil, Russia, India, China) also experienced unprecedented challenges of maintaining the equity, resilience, and sustainability of infrastructure planning, finance, operation, and maintenance. Hence, it becomes imperative to develop new knowledge and approaches in order to foster sound strategies to achieve the sustainable development of infrastructure in an uncertain world.

We invite submissions that explore issues related to social, economic, and environmental and comprehensive impact assessment of infrastructure investment, using new data, methods, and concepts. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Impact assessment of mega-infrastructure projects (e.g., transcontinental railways, urban intelligent transport systems, water conservancy dams);
  • Assessment of the investment in developing resilient infrastructure systems;
  • The socioeconomic impacts of investment in developing new infrastructure systems, (e.g., UAVs, autonomous vehicles, 5G telecommunication, Hyperloop);
  • Impacts of COVID-19 on infrastructure investment (including highway, rail, transit, and airport), and the impact of infrastructure investment in the era of COVID-19;
  • Financial sustainability of infrastructure investment;
  • Impact assessment of infrastructure investment on economic disparity, social equity, and quality of life;
  • Evaluation of the longevity in both the planning and life cycle of infrastructure;
  • New approaches (e.g., new data and methods) for infrastructure investment appraisals; and
  • Government governance, risk control, and policy innovations for infrastructure investment.

To facilitate the development of this Special Issue, special sessions will be hosted at the International Association of China Planning (IACP) annual conference in July 2021 (tentative and subject to change). Please note, however, that this Special Issue is open to all scholars, regardless of their participation in the special sessions.

Timeline

  • Call for papers for this Sustainability SI: 15 December 2020
  • Full manuscript submission to Sustainability open: 1 February 2021
  • Special session at the International Association of China Planning (IACP) annual conference:  July 2021 (tentative and subject to change)
  • Full manuscript submission to Sustainability due: 1 September 2021

All submitted papers should address significant issues pertinent to the themes of this special Issue and fall within the scope of Sustainability. All final submissions must be original and may not be under review by any other journals. Acceptance for publication will be based on referees’ and editors’ recommendations following a standard peer-review process. Criteria for acceptance include originality, contribution, methodology, and scientific merit. All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of Guest Editors.

Asst. Prof. Zhenhua Chen
Prof. Dr. Hongchang Li
Prof. Dr. Roger W. Vickerman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • socioeconomic impact
  • life-cycle assessment
  • regional disparity
  • infrastructure investment
  • uncertainty
  • sustainability

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
Sustainable Construction and Financing—Asset-Backed Securitization of Expressway’s Usufruct with Redeemable Rights
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9113; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169113 - 14 Aug 2021
Viewed by 325
Abstract
Asset-backed securitization will greatly promote the sustainability of infrastructure construction and financing. However, there are quite limited researches conducted in this field. Given the project characteristics of infrastructure project securities, this paper proposes the issuance steps of redeemable asset-backed notes (ABN) based on [...] Read more.
Asset-backed securitization will greatly promote the sustainability of infrastructure construction and financing. However, there are quite limited researches conducted in this field. Given the project characteristics of infrastructure project securities, this paper proposes the issuance steps of redeemable asset-backed notes (ABN) based on the infrastructure project’s usufruct as the basic asset. Taking the expressway franchise as an example, the issuing scale and coupon rate of the redeemable ABN are determined by the expected cash flow of the expressway, the term structure of random interest rates, and the option-adjusted spread (OAS). In addition, this research analyzes the duration, convexity, and OAS. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Public–Private Partnership Infrastructure Investment and Sustainable Economic Development: An Empirical Study Based on Efficiency Evaluation and Spatial Spillover in China
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8146; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158146 - 21 Jul 2021
Viewed by 369
Abstract
Public–private partnership (PPP), an innovative mode of infrastructure investment, has been widely applied in China and has become an essential policy tool with which to promote sustainable economic development. In order to comprehensively evaluate the economic consequences, using 31 provinces in China from [...] Read more.
Public–private partnership (PPP), an innovative mode of infrastructure investment, has been widely applied in China and has become an essential policy tool with which to promote sustainable economic development. In order to comprehensively evaluate the economic consequences, using 31 provinces in China from 2003 to 2018 as samples, first, stochastic frontier analysis was performed to measure the input–output efficiency of infrastructure investment to evaluate the economic sustainability and efficiency of PPP compared to single government-led investment mode. Next, the overall economic growth effect of PPP was verified. Further, from the perspective of sustainable development of regional economies, the double-fixed effect spatial Durbin model was adopted to empirically test the spatial spillover effect of PPP and clarify its industrial heterogeneity. The results show the following. (1) The average input–output efficiency of infrastructure is 0.449, revealing a distribution law of decreasing from east to west and remarkable regional variation. However, a good trend of improvement emerged, reflecting the economic sustainability of infrastructure investment, and PPP has played a positive role in promoting it. (2) PPP has significant and positive economic growth and spatial spillover effects, which can promote regional economic integration, embodying its economic sustainability function. (3) The economic impact of PPP has significant industrial heterogeneity. Transportation PPP can bring greater economic benefits, confirming the vital position of transportation infrastructure in the sustainable development of regional economies. Energy and water PPP have positive externalities. All of this provides powerful and reliable proof of the realization of sustainable economic development under the regional virtuous circle driven by infrastructure investment through PPP. Full article
Article
Enterprises’ R&D Investment, Venture Capital Syndication and IPO Underpricing
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7290; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137290 - 29 Jun 2021
Viewed by 345
Abstract
Based on the data of companies that got ChiNext listed from 2009 to 2018, this paper empirically studies the relationship among R&D investment, venture capital (VC) syndication and IPO underpricing. It is found that there is a significant positive correlation between R&D investment [...] Read more.
Based on the data of companies that got ChiNext listed from 2009 to 2018, this paper empirically studies the relationship among R&D investment, venture capital (VC) syndication and IPO underpricing. It is found that there is a significant positive correlation between R&D investment and IPO underpricing, indicating that the higher the R&D investment is, the higher the IPO underpricing degree is; the intervention of VC syndication plays a role of “adverse selection” instead of giving play to its advantages of sharing information, which intensifies the positive correlation between R&D investment and IPO underpricing. Further analysis shows that the reputation of the leading VC in syndication can play a negative regulating role; the higher the reputation of the leading VC is, the more it can play the “certification effect”, reduce the information asymmetry caused by R&D investment, therefore alleviating the IPO underpricing caused by R&D investment. Full article
Article
How Does Transportation Infrastructure Improve Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from High-Speed Railway Openings in China
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6455; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116455 - 06 Jun 2021
Viewed by 634
Abstract
The socioeconomic impacts of infrastructure investment are worth examining in both academic and practical areas. Regarding Chinese high-speed railway construction, the existing literature mainly focuses on the macro-economic level consequences of high-speed railway openings, leaving the micro-economic level impacts commonly untested. Using archival [...] Read more.
The socioeconomic impacts of infrastructure investment are worth examining in both academic and practical areas. Regarding Chinese high-speed railway construction, the existing literature mainly focuses on the macro-economic level consequences of high-speed railway openings, leaving the micro-economic level impacts commonly untested. Using archival data of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2018 and the difference-in-difference (DID) approach, this paper examines the influential effect of Chinese high-speed railway openings on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Empirical results show that high-speed railway openings can significantly improve Chinese listed companies’ CSR performance, and this positive effect is more salient when companies are experiencing lower information transparency. Mediating effect tests illustrate that the increased investor site visits caused by high-speed railway openings are one internal mechanism behind the main connection. Overall, from a micro-level perspective, this article provides additional evidence on the socioeconomic impact of transportation infrastructure investments. Full article
Article
Infrastructure Public–Private Partnership (PPP) Investment and Government Fiscal Expenditure on Science and Technology from the Perspective of Sustainability
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6193; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116193 - 31 May 2021
Viewed by 655
Abstract
In the environment of the continuous development of the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model, China’s “dual circulation” development pattern orientation and “new normal” economic development reform provide the foundation for the development of the PPP model in the field of infrastructure. A good government [...] Read more.
In the environment of the continuous development of the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model, China’s “dual circulation” development pattern orientation and “new normal” economic development reform provide the foundation for the development of the PPP model in the field of infrastructure. A good government investment structure and governance environment will help to improve the financial sustainability of infrastructure investment. This paper studies the mechanism of the relationship between fiscal expenditure on science and technology and the development of infrastructure PPP models based on the data of provincial PPP projects in the World Bank database and carries out an empirical analysis. The results show that the positive effect of government fiscal expenditure on science and technology and the development of the infrastructure PPP model in local regions is significant. In addition, intergovernmental competition within the political system of China will have a restraining effect on this relationship. This has certain theoretical and practical significance for the construction and implementation of the mechanism underlying intergovernmental behavior and the infrastructure PPP model. Full article
Back to TopTop