Motorway investment, industrial transport costs, and sub-regional growth: A case study of the M62

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Abstract
Dodgson J. S. (1974) Motorway investment, industrial transport costs, and subregional growth: A case study of the M62, Reg. Studies 8, 75–91. This paper is concerned with the effects of motorway investment on regional economic growth. The role of regional development benefits in cost-benefit appraisals of highway investments is briefly reviewed. A model relating areal employment growth rates to transport costs and to other variables is developed, and then tested for a 30-zone area of the North of England using multiple regression techniques. Transport cost indices of accessibility developed in this model are then used to calculate the effect of a particular motorway, the M62, on industrial transport costs in the areas through which it passes. These results are used to give a very tentative indication of the employment changes in these areas which might follow the highway's construction.