EU-financed peripheral large-scale infrastructure projects and the White Elephant syndrome: The example of Rail Baltica

Viljar Veebel; Raul Markus; Illimar Ploom

doi:10.1556/032.2019.69.1.2

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Acta Oeconomica

Volume/Issue:: Volume 69: Issue 1

EU-financed peripheral large-scale infrastructure projects and the White Elephant syndrome: The example of Rail Baltica

Authors:

Viljar Veebel

Viljar Veebel Viljar Veebel, corresponding author, Associate Professor, Chair of Political Science and Strategic Studies, Baltic Defence College, Tartu, Estonia.

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viljar.veebel@gmail.com

Raul Markus

Raul Markus Raul Markus, Researcher, Department of Logistics, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia.

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Raul@optium.ee

, and

Illimar Ploom

Illimar Ploom Illimar Ploom, Associate Professor, Department of Economy, Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, and University of Tartu, Center for EU–Russia Studies, Estonia.

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illimar.ploom@gmail.com

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Pages:: 17–39

Online Publication Date:: Mar 2019

Publication Date:: 01 Mar 2019

Article Category:: Journal Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/032.2019.69.1.2

Keywords:: “White Elephant syndrome”; European Union; structural funds; public policy

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The present study revolves around the question of the appropriateness of “the White Elephant syndrome” to characterise the nature of the planned trans-Baltic railway project Rail Baltica (RB) in terms of its initial financing, long-term profitability and symbolic importance. Whereas, in general, the expected outcome of the project goes well together with the EU Cohesion Policy goals, in its concrete application RB could serve as an example of the tendency of politicians and public servants to institutionally lock themselves into certain irrational choices about publicly financed mega-projects. This is what “the White Elephant syndrome” metaphor illustrates. Methodologically, this paper aims to analyse whether RB meets the common criteria of “the White Elephant syndrome” of public investments or if it can be seen as a sustainable and profitable long-term project after the initial investment.

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Acta Oeconomica Periodical of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Print ISSN:: 0001-6373

Online ISSN:: 1588-2659

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Péter Benczúr, Joint Joint Research Center, European Commission
Dóra Benedek, International Monetary Fund
Balázs Égert, OECD
Dániel Prinz, World Bank
Rok Spruk, University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, Slovenia

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Anders Åslund, Georgetown University and Advisory Council of CASE, USA
István Benczes, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
Fabrizio Coricelli, University of Siena, Italy
László Csaba, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and Central European University, Austria
Beáta Farkas, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Szeged, Hungary
Péter Halmai, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and National University of Public Service, Hungary
Martin Kahanec, Central European University, Austria
Michael Landesmann, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW), Austria
Péter Mihályi, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Debora Revoltella, European Investment Bank

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Acta Oeconomica
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