Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

An adequate supply of infrastructure services has long been viewed by both academics and policy makers as a key ingredient for economic development. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks consistently at the bottom of all developing regions in terms of infrastructure performance, and an increasing number of obser...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Calderon, Cesar, Serven, Luis
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5490
id okr-10986-5490
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-54902021-04-23T14:02:22Z Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Calderon, Cesar Serven, Luis National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures Other Public Investment and Capital Stock H540 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty I320 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Formal and Informal Sectors Shadow Economy Institutional Arrangements O170 Measurement of Economic Growth Aggregate Productivity Cross-Country Output Convergence O470 Transportation Systems: Government and Private Investment Analysis Road Maintenance, Transportation Planning R420 An adequate supply of infrastructure services has long been viewed by both academics and policy makers as a key ingredient for economic development. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks consistently at the bottom of all developing regions in terms of infrastructure performance, and an increasing number of observers point to deficient infrastructure as a major obstacle for growth and poverty reduction across the region. This paper offers an empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure development on growth and inequality, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper uses a comparative cross-regional perspective to place Africa's experience in the international context. Drawing from an updated data set of infrastructure quantity and quality indicators covering more than 100 countries and spanning the years 1960-2005, the paper estimates empirical growth and inequality equations including a standard set of control variables augmented by infrastructure quantity and quality measures, and controlling for the potential endogeneity of the latter. The estimates illustrate the potential contribution of infrastructure development to growth and equity across Africa. 2012-03-30T07:33:05Z 2012-03-30T07:33:05Z 2010 Journal Article Journal of African Economies 09638024 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5490 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
topic National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures
Other Public Investment and Capital Stock H540
Measurement and Analysis of Poverty I320
Economic Development: Human Resources
Human Development
Income Distribution
Migration O150
Formal and Informal Sectors
Shadow Economy
Institutional Arrangements O170
Measurement of Economic Growth
Aggregate Productivity
Cross-Country Output Convergence O470
Transportation Systems: Government and Private Investment Analysis
Road Maintenance, Transportation Planning R420
spellingShingle National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures
Other Public Investment and Capital Stock H540
Measurement and Analysis of Poverty I320
Economic Development: Human Resources
Human Development
Income Distribution
Migration O150
Formal and Informal Sectors
Shadow Economy
Institutional Arrangements O170
Measurement of Economic Growth
Aggregate Productivity
Cross-Country Output Convergence O470
Transportation Systems: Government and Private Investment Analysis
Road Maintenance, Transportation Planning R420
Calderon, Cesar
Serven, Luis
Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
geographic_facet Africa
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description An adequate supply of infrastructure services has long been viewed by both academics and policy makers as a key ingredient for economic development. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks consistently at the bottom of all developing regions in terms of infrastructure performance, and an increasing number of observers point to deficient infrastructure as a major obstacle for growth and poverty reduction across the region. This paper offers an empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure development on growth and inequality, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper uses a comparative cross-regional perspective to place Africa's experience in the international context. Drawing from an updated data set of infrastructure quantity and quality indicators covering more than 100 countries and spanning the years 1960-2005, the paper estimates empirical growth and inequality equations including a standard set of control variables augmented by infrastructure quantity and quality measures, and controlling for the potential endogeneity of the latter. The estimates illustrate the potential contribution of infrastructure development to growth and equity across Africa.
format Journal Article
author Calderon, Cesar
Serven, Luis
author_facet Calderon, Cesar
Serven, Luis
author_sort Calderon, Cesar
title Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort infrastructure and economic development in sub-saharan africa
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5490
_version_ 1764395237250170880