ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the evolution of the literature and illustrates how wider economic benefits (WEBs) might be considered for changes to the design, size, and use of an aviation network. It provides a detailed description of the evolution of the literature of transportation investments. The chapter explores the public capital and economic growth literature, examines the mechanisms of WEBs and WEBs versus catalytic effects. It looks more closely at the relationship between WEBs and aviation followed by a discussion of the aviation infrastructure service as it provides access to economic mass and spillover effects. The chapter provides an empirical example of aviation network change using multifactor productivity as an impact metric. It describes the data, models, and empirical results as well as illustrating the values associated with changes to a network. A substantial research effort has focused on how much public capital, generally represented in terms of infrastructure, has contributed to economic growth.
