Infrastructure finance in Europe : insights into the history of water, transport, and telecommunications / edited by Youssef Cassis, Giuseppe De Luca, Massimo Florio.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cassis, Youssef, editor.

De Luca, Giuseppe, 1963- editor.

Florio, Massimo, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development projects--Europe--Finance.

Economic development projects.

Infrastructure (Economics)--Europe--History.

Infrastructure (Economics).

Economic development projects--Finance.

History.

Finance.

Europe.

Physical Description:

xxi, 358 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016.

Summary:

Funding infrastructure has always been a challenging issue in any country and at any time, yet the topic is still largely unexplored. The social returns of investment in water, roads, railways, or more recently telegraph or communication satellites are often apparent in the long run, but this distant horizon poses problems for governments and investors. This volume provides a broad overview of the main financing solutions implemented in Europe to support infrastructures from the Roman age up to the end of the 20th century. It explores the diverse historical paths pursued in order to solve the problem of infrastructure finance in various European countries, and draws upon the findings of an international and interdisciplinary research project. It brings together case studies by economic historians, economists, and engineers, and the clear taxonomy guides the reader through the financing solutions that have been developed to fund infrastructure over almost three thousand years. The volume is organized into four parts; after an introductory chapter by the editors, Part One offers 'horizontal' contributions that cover the history of European infrastructure finance. Parts Two, Three, and Four each focus on a single sector, namely water, transport, and telecommunications. The findings show how history can inform thinking on contemporary infrastructure problems. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I The History of European Infrastructure Finance: From the Middle Ages to the Present Era

1 Infrastructure Financing in Medieval Europe: On and beyond 'Roman Ways' / Giuseppe De Luca Luca, Giuseppe De 39

2 Infrastructure Financing in the Early Modern Age: The Beginning of a 'Little Divergence' / Marcella Lorenzini Lorenzini, Marcella 61

3 Infrastructure Investments and the Shaping of Modern Finance / Youssef Cassis Cassis, Youssef 81

Part II Water

4 Corvée versus Money in Water Infrastructure in the Alps: The Rû Courtaud, 1393-2013 / Massimo Florio Florio, Massimo 95

5 The Finance of Local Public Goods at the Onset of Industrialization: Water in Paris 1807-1925 / Olivier Crespi Reghizzi Reghizzi, Olivier Crespi 123

6 The Finance of Local Public Goods at the Onset of Industrialization: Water in London 1582 to 1904 / Hugh Goldsmith Goldsmith, Hugh, Dan Carter Carter, Dan 150

Part III Transport

7 Paying for the First Italian Motorways (1923-41) / Enrico Berbenni Berbenni, Enrico 193

8 Railway Financing before Nationalization: Spain 1855-1941 / Pedro Pablo Ortúñez Goicolea Goicolea, Pedro Pablo Ortúñez 218

9 Railway Financing: Europe in the Nineteenth Century / Björn Wündsch Wündsch, Björn 240

Part IV Telecommunications

10 Role of the State in Telecommunications Infrastructure Financing Across Europe: The Telephony Service from the 1880s to the First World War / Damir Agic Agic, Damir, Nico Grove Grove, Nico 255

11 Financing Telegraph Infrastructures (1850-1900) / Simone Fari Fari, Simone 282

12 The Public Private Partnership in the Italian Satellite Telecommunication System Design: SIRIO and Italsat (1969-96) / Matteo Landoni Landoni, Matteo 297.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-339) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780198713418

019871341X

OCLC:

936302652