A macroeconomic analysis of the public investments in European combined transport

Intermodal transport has been recognized as a priority by the EuropeanUnion, that has defined different budget allocations of investments to improve theshifting from road to intermodal transport, which is more sustainable. In this context,the main aim of the paper is to discuss the macroeconomic effects, in terms of economicgrowth, welfare and trade, of these public investments for combined transport,which aspects have been neglected in literature. A multi-country computable generalequilibrium model has been used. Themain results have been that the European Unionbenefits from these investments, but at international level, USA and Japan would losein terms of welfare. Furthermore, the welfare change has been decomposed in its componentsand the results show that the trade effects are higher than the allocative effects.The robustness of the results has been tested over time and by a sensitivity analysis ofthe exchange rate.