Foreign demand and domestic supply : an outlook on transport infrastructure in Switzerland and the EC.

In this paper the author looks from a local perspective at decisions concerning transport infrastructure with European impact. He diagnoses a discrepancy between European planning of transport infrastructure networks and Swiss decision making on what should be parts of these networks. In the framework of a politico-economic model it is argued that as a function of direct democratic institutions in a federal state, local aspects prevail when decisions on large scale infrastructure projects are taken. This hypothesis is tested for three votes on transport issues in Switzerland in 1984 and 1987. Some support is found for the proposition and it is concluded that European transport infrastructure networks risk being incomplete unless the local gains from international integration can be demonstrated to voters on a local level.