Richard Hornbeck, an economic historian at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will discuss how flawed economic models underestimate the true impact of transportation investments during the 2025 Leon N. Moses Distinguished Lecture in Transportation at Northwestern University this week.
Hosted by the Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC), the lecture, "Amplified gains from transportation infrastructure investments," will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 700 University Place in Evanston. The free lecture is open to the public but registration is encouraged.
Hornbeck is the V. Duane Rath Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he studies the historical development of the U.S. economy. In his lecture, he will argue for a new framework that accounts for real-world imperfections often overlooked in traditional economic models of infrastructure investment. These models typically assume the economy functions efficiently. But, in reality, markets can be uncompetitive, and firms often struggle to access financing.
Hornbeck will illustrate this flaw using the example of U.S. railroad expansion in the late 1800s. Ignoring broader economic distortions led to an understatement of the railroads' contribution to economic growth. By reworking these frameworks, economists can more accurately estimate the benefits from future transportation investments.
In addition to his position at the University of Chicago, Hornbeck is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, affiliated with programs on the development of the American economy, development economics, and environmental and energy economics. Prior to joining Chicago Booth in 2015, Hornbeck was the Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History in the economics department at Harvard University. He received an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2014 and was selected for the 2009 Review of Economic Studies Tour.
The Leon N. Moses Distinguished Lecture in Transportation was named in honor of the late Professor Leon N. Moses for his significant contributions to the field of transportation economics and regional science and for his long and dedicated service to the NUTC.
The NUTC is one of the world's leading interdisciplinary education and research institutions, serving industry, government and the public. Founded in 1954 to make substantive and enduring contributions to the movement of materials, people, energy and information, the center stands at the forefront of transportation research and education, bringing together academic researchers, students and business affiliates in open exploration of transportation and supply chain operations.
