Social and economic infrastructure and socio-economic development: an empirical analysis

Infrastructure is sine qua non for pacing the growth and sustaining the development of an economy especially the developing ones. Objectives: This study aims to identify the districts and regions of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India, lagging in terms of availability of social and economic infrastructure so that special transformational policies can be implemented for these areas. Moreover, the study also analyses the relationship between availability of infrastructure and socio-economic development of the districts and regions of the state. Methods/Approach: Composite Indices for social infrastructure, economic infrastructure and socio-economic development have been constructed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for analyzing the performance of the districts and regions of the state. Regression analysis is used to analyze the relationship between social and economic infrastructure and socio-economic development of the districts and regions of the state. Results: Most of the districts of the state are having strong relationship between availability of economic infrastructure and the level of socio-economic development. However, no such relationship has been observed between social infrastructure and socio-economic development. Conclusions: The study is very relevant from policy making point of view as Uttar Pradesh, with its large population and low per capita income, is key to forging India’s overall socio-economic development.