THE IMPACT OF INFRASTRUCTURE ON PRODUCTIVITY IN THE POLISH ECONOMY

The paper focuses on the link between infrastructure and productivity in the Polish economy. The researcher aims to estimate the direct elasticity of GDP with regard to infrastructure and check the indirect influence of infrastructure on productivity. The adopted research method is based on estimating a three-factor production function for Poland, covering capital, labor and infrastructure. Two forms of the production function were adopted, the Cobb-Douglas function and the translog function. The production function was estimated on the basis of data for Poland's 16 provinces in 2000-2006. The findings obtained by the author show that infrastructure is an important factor influencing production. The estimated direct elasticity of GDP to infrastructure ranged from 0.11 to 0.22 depending on the production function and the variables used. This level of elasticity is compatible with research findings for other countries, the author says. However, Mackiewicz-Lyziak's research yielded no conclusive findings on the influence of infrastructure on productivity in the case of other production factors.