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A Theory of Infrastructure-led Development

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Pierre-Richard Agénor

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Abstract

This paper proposes a theory of long-run development based on public infrastructure as the main engine of growth. The government, in addition to investing in infrastructure, spends on health services, which in turn raise labor productivity and lower the rate of time preference. Infrastructure affects the production of both commodities and health services. As a result of network effects, the degree of efficiency of infrastructure is nonlinearly related to the stock of public capital itself. This in turn may cause multiplicity of equilibrium growth paths. Provided that governance is adequate enough to ensure a sufficient degree of efficiency of public investment outlays, an increase in the share of spending on infrastructure (financed by a cut in unproductive expenditure or foreign grants) may facilitate the shift from a low growth equilibrium, characterized by low productivity and low savings, to a high growth steady state.

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File URL: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/cgbcr/dpcgbcr/dpcgbcr83.pdf
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Paper provided by Economics, The Univeristy of Manchester in its series Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series with number 83.

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Length: 48 pages
Date of creation: 2006
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Handle: RePEc:man:cgbcrp:83

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  5. Lawrance, Emily C, 1991. "Poverty and the Rate of Time Preference: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(1), pages 54-77, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  28. Epstein, Larry G & Hynes, J Allan, 1983. "The Rate of Time Preference and Dynamic Economic Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 611-35, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  32. Huang, Ho-Chuan, 2005. "Diverging evidence of convergence hypothesis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 233-255, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Pierre-Richard Agénor & Joshua Aizenman, 2007. "Aid Volatility and Poverty Traps," NBER Working Papers 13400, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Rangan Gupta & Emmanuel Ziramba, 2008. "Optimal Public Policy with Endogenous Mortality," Working Papers 200829, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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