Infrastructure and Growth in Developing Countries : Recent Advances and Research Challenges

This paper presents a survey of recent research on the economics of infrastructure in developing countries. Energy, transport, telecommunications, water and sanitation are considered. The survey covers two main set of issues: the linkages between infrastructure and economic growth (at the economy-wide, regional and sectoral level) and the composition, sequencing and efficiency of alternative infrastructure investments, including the arbitrage between new investments and maintenance expenditures; OPEX and CAPEX, and public versus private investment. Following the introduction, section 2 discusses the theoretical foundations (growth theory and new economic geography). Section 3 assesses the analysis of 140 specifications from 64 recent empirical papers-examining type of data used, level of aggregation, econometric techniques and nature of the sample-and discusses both the macro-econometric and micro-econometric contributions of these papers. Finally section 4 discusses directions for future research and suggests priorities in data development.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Straub, Stéphane
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-01
Subjects:ACCESSIBILITY, ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY, AGGLOMERATION, AGGLOMERATION EFFECTS, AGRICULTURE, AIRPORTS, ALLOCATION, ARBITRAGE, ASSET PRICES, CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, CAPITAL EXPENDITURE, CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, CAPITAL INVESTMENT, CAPITAL STOCK, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES, CONGESTION, CONGESTION COSTS, CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE, CONSUMERS, CONVICTION, COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, DEGREE OF AGGLOMERATION, DEREGULATION, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICIES, DIMINISHING RETURNS, DISTRIBUTIONAL CONSEQUENCES, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC THEORY, ECONOMICS OF INFRASTRUCTURE, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, EFFICIENCY OF INFRASTRUCTURE, ELASTICITY, ELECTRICITY GENERATORS, EQUILIBRIUM, EXPORTS, EXTERNALITIES, FACTORS OF PRODUCTION, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FIXED COSTS, FORMS OF REGULATION, FREIGHT, FUEL, FUEL PRICE, FUTURE RESEARCH, GDP, GENERATION, GINI COEFFICIENT, GOOD TRANSPORT, GROWTH MODEL, GROWTH MODELS, GROWTH RATE, GROWTH THEORY, HIGH TRANSPORT, HUMAN CAPITAL, IMPERFECT COMPETITION, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME LEVELS, INCREASING RETURNS, INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE, INDUSTRIALIZATION, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS, INFRASTRUCTURE POLICIES, INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES, INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING, INFRASTRUCTURES, INVENTORY, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, INVESTMENT IN ROADS, LAND TRANSPORT, LAND USE, LATIN AMERICAN, LOCAL ROADS, LOCAL TRANSPORT, MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURES, MARKET ACCESS, MOBILITY, MOTORWAY NETWORK, NETWORK EXTERNALITIES, NETWORK UPGRADING, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLLUTION, POPULATION GROWTH, POSITIVE EFFECTS, PRIVATE CAPITAL, PRIVATE OPERATORS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATIZATION, PRODUCTION FUNCTION, PRODUCTIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, PUBLIC GOOD, PUBLIC INVESTMENT, QUALITY OF TRANSPORT, RAILROAD, RAILROADS, RAILWAYS, REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE, REGIONAL TRANSPORT, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, RENTS, RETURNS TO SCALE, ROAD, ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE, ROAD NETWORK, ROAD QUALITY, ROAD SECTOR, ROAD TRANSPORT, ROADS, ROUTES, RURAL ROADS, SANITATION, SAVINGS, SPECIALIZATION, STOCKS, TAX, TAXATION, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRADE-OFF, TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, TRANSPORT, TRANSPORT COSTS, TRANSPORT DATA, TRANSPORT INDUSTRY, TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY, TRANSPORTATION, TRANSPORTATION COSTS, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, TRAVEL TIME, TRUCKS, TRUE, URBAN ECONOMICS, WAGES, WATER INFRASTRUCTURE,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/8915363/infrastructure-growth-developing-countries-recent-advances-research-challenges
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6458
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Summary:This paper presents a survey of recent research on the economics of infrastructure in developing countries. Energy, transport, telecommunications, water and sanitation are considered. The survey covers two main set of issues: the linkages between infrastructure and economic growth (at the economy-wide, regional and sectoral level) and the composition, sequencing and efficiency of alternative infrastructure investments, including the arbitrage between new investments and maintenance expenditures; OPEX and CAPEX, and public versus private investment. Following the introduction, section 2 discusses the theoretical foundations (growth theory and new economic geography). Section 3 assesses the analysis of 140 specifications from 64 recent empirical papers-examining type of data used, level of aggregation, econometric techniques and nature of the sample-and discusses both the macro-econometric and micro-econometric contributions of these papers. Finally section 4 discusses directions for future research and suggests priorities in data development.