Comparison of the productivity of public capital by project type: Central-government, subsidized-local, and unsubsidized-local projects in Japan

Using a panel of Japanese regional data from 1960 to 2003, we estimated the production effect of public capital formed through three types of government projects: (1) projects directly implemented by the central government (central-government projects), (2) projects that are implemented by local governments but induced through subsidies by the central government (subsidized-local projects), and (3) projects that are implemented by local governments without central subsidies (unsubsidized-local projects). The results showed that the unsubsidized local projects were the most productive among the three types. In addition, the subsidized-local projects were found to be the least productive, being less effective than the central projects. This may suggest the existence of inefficiency factors that central subsidization for local projects entails under the Japanese system of intergovernmental transfers.