Transport investments: are they crucial for the economic system?

The main aim of this paper is to look for a causal impact of transport investment activity on employment and on GDP through an empirical analysis, and to understand whether or not investments are really important for the economy. The results of the empirical investigation demonstrate the existence of such links and that the impact of transport investments can indeed bring about changes in the economic system, although one must consider that the nature of investments is a strategic factor to have desirable effects and that other variables, such as technology, have a greater importance in the short term on the economic system. The examples for this investigation have been implemented by using national and regional Italian data, although results may be easily extended to other areas, both sectorial and geographical.