The Politics of Public Investment

In the research project "The politics of public investment", Pär Nyman and Axel Cronert examine why much-needed public investments are sometimes not implemented.

They explore two political explanations of under-investment. First, governments might prioritize immediate consumption over long-term investments if they expect the former to increase their chances of re-election. Second, any investment is afflicted with a certain degree of uncertainty, as whether the investment decision would be revoked after a cabinet change.

– Many of the challenges that we face today will require voluminous investments in education as well as infrastructure. Due to slow economic growth and low interest rates, increased public investment is also compelling from a purely economic perspective. Why then, is it the case that the level of investment has declined in most rich countries? That's what we want to find out, says Pär Nyman, who is leading the project.

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Principal Investigator: Pär Nyman (Department of Government)

Funding: SEK 3 530 000 from Forte

Period: 1 January 2018–31 March 2022