IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-25-00428.html

Public investment in local road infrastructure and economic growth in Benin: A dynamic analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Modeste Dedehouanou

    (FASEG/Université de PARAKOU (Benin))

  • Bernard Hounmenou

    (FASEG /Université d'Abomey Calavi (Bénin))

  • Louis Tchonkloe

    (FASEG/Université de Parakou (Bénin))

Abstract

This study examines the effect of local public investment on economic growth in Benin, with particular emphasis on the role of local road transport infrastructure. From a theoretical perspective, the analysis is grounded in Barro's (1990) endogenous growth model, which incorporates the externalities of public infrastructure spending through a production function combining private and public capital. Empirically, vector autoregressive (VAR) models are employed to assess the impact of public investment in local road infrastructure on economic growth using data covering the period 1993–2023. The results indicate that the contribution of public expenditure excluding local road infrastructure investment to economic growth is greater than that of public investment in local road infrastructure. Nevertheless, local road infrastructure investment has a positive and significant effect on economic growth in the long run. In turn, higher economic growth increases government tax revenues, thereby enhancing the government's capacity to invest in local road infrastructure. Consequently, improving the business climate through the development of local infrastructure appears to be a key driver of economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Modeste Dedehouanou & Bernard Hounmenou & Louis Tchonkloe, 2026. "Public investment in local road infrastructure and economic growth in Benin: A dynamic analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 46(1), pages 168-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-25-00428
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2026/Volume46/EB-26-V46-I1-P15.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Richard A. Musgrave, 1959. "Taxes and the Budget," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 18-22, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rao, B. Bhaskara, 2010. "Estimates of the steady state growth rates for selected Asian countries with an extended Solow model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 46-53, January.
    2. Prof. Dr. Adem KALCA & Resc. Assist. Atakan DURMAZ, 2012. "Diaspora As The Instrument Of Humane Capital," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(5), pages 94-104, October.
    3. Jung-Suk Yu & M. Kabir Hassan & Abdullah Mamun & Abul Hassan, 2014. "Financial Sectors Reform and Economic Growth in Morocco: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 13(1), pages 69-102, April.
    4. Raouf Boucekkine & Fernando Del Río & Omar Licandro, 2003. "Embodied Technological Change, Learning‐by‐doing and the Productivity Slowdown," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(1), pages 87-98, March.
    5. Abida Hafeez & Karim Bux Shah Syed & Fiza Qureshi, 2019. "Exploring the Relationship between Government R & D Expenditures and Economic Growth in a Global Perspective: A PMG Estimation Approach," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(4), pages 163-174, April.
    6. repec:ilo:ilowps:366690 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Heijs, Joost, 2003. "Freerider behaviour and the public finance of R&D activities in enterprises: the case of the Spanish low interest credits for R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 445-461, March.
    8. Boucekkine, Raouf & del Rio, Fernando & Licandro, Omar, 2005. "Obsolescence and modernization in the growth process," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 153-171, June.
    9. Hui Yang & Jingye Li & Stefan Sieber & Kaisheng Long, 2025. "Does Digital Village Construction Affect the Sustainable Intensification of Cultivated Land Use? Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-24, April.
    10. Kawalec Paweł, 2020. "The dynamics of theories of economic growth: An impact of Unified Growth Theory," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 19-44, June.
    11. Kar, Sabyasachi & Pritchett, Lant & Raihan, Selim & Sen, Kunal, 2013. "Looking for a break: Identifying transitions in growth regimes," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 151-166.
    12. Iamsiraroj, Sasi, 2016. "The foreign direct investment–economic growth nexus," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 116-133.
    13. George Asumadu & Emmanuel Amo-Bediako, 2021. "Stock Market Performance and Economic Growth Nexus: A Panacea or Pain to Ghana?," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(4), pages 423-429, April.
    14. Ingrid Ott & Susanne Soretz, 2006. "Governmental activity, integration, and agglomeration," Working Paper Series in Economics 57, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    15. Gao, Ting, 2004. "Regional industrial growth: evidence from Chinese industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 101-124, January.
    16. Jaewon Lim & Daeyoung Kwon & Soo Jung Ha, 2025. "Revisiting the growth poles: regional disparity and population redistribution policy," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 74(1), pages 1-27, March.
    17. Schreiner, Lena & Madlener, Reinhard, 2022. "Investing in power grid infrastructure as a flexibility option: A DSGE assessment for Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    18. Thomas Baudin & Robert Stelter, 2022. "The rural exodus and the rise of Europe," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 365-414, September.
    19. Mikhail Y. Afanasyev & Alexander V. Kudrov, 2021. "Economic Complexity, Embedding Degree and Adjacent Diversity of the Regional Economies," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 17(2), pages 7-22.
    20. Brautzsch, Hans-Ulrich & Günther, Jutta & Loose, Brigitte & Ludwig, Udo & Nulsch, Nicole, 2015. "Can R&D subsidies counteract the economic crisis? – Macroeconomic effects in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 623-633.
    21. Siemiński, Paweł & Hadyński, Jakub & Poczta, Walenty, 2020. "Diversification of Human Capital Resources in Rural and Urban Areas in Poland," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2020(01).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-25-00428. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.