The following article is an excerpt from the Private Infrastructure Finance and Investment in Europe, a report commissioned by the European Investment Bank. The entire report with footnotes and references is available at www.georginderst.com and the Social Science Research Network page: www.ssrn.com. The article reviews the available research about global infrastructure investment needs with a focus on Europe. 

Infrastructure “gaps” as such are evident to everybody. There is continuous reference to infrastructure investment needs in the billions and trillions of dollars or euros. However, it is often less clear where such figures are coming from and what they actually mean.

Infrastructure should be more and better, that is widely agreed. However, infrastructure investment needs are not easily quantifiable. There are