IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceps/v82y2022ipbs0038012122000349.html

An application of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) to the prioritization of rural roads to improve rural accessibility in Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Akpan, Uduak
  • Morimoto, Risako

Abstract

Good quality rural road infrastructure seems to contribute substantially to improvements in several socio-economic indicators in rural areas: increases accessibility to markets, educational and health facilities, and stimulates economic activities. However, several millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa do not live in proximity to an all-season road. A robust process of prioritizing roads for upgrade is needed to ensure efficient allocation of scarce resources in a manner that will maximize accessibility to key social amenities and economic opportunities. This study uses Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) to examine how rural roads in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria may be prioritized for upgrade to maximize access to key socio-economic facilities. In our analysis, the rural roads to be prioritized are the alternatives while the decision criteria are: social, economic, demographic, financial, and political. The MAUT is preferred to the commonly-used Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) because the number of alternatives is large. Geographic information system (GIS) techniques are applied to process some of the data used in the performance matrix of the MAUT. We specify non-linear marginal utility functions for the criteria. Scenario analyses are also carried out to examine the impact of changes in the weights of the criteria on the utility score of each alternative. The study identifies 10 roads that will yield the highest socio-economic benefits and promote rural accessibility. Finally, the study recommends that decision-makers adopt a similar approach in selecting rural roads for upgrade, instead of selecting roads based on political considerations.

Suggested Citation

  • Akpan, Uduak & Morimoto, Risako, 2022. "An application of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) to the prioritization of rural roads to improve rural accessibility in Nigeria," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:82:y:2022:i:pb:s0038012122000349
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2022.101256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012122000349
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.seps.2022.101256?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gibson, John & Olivia, Susan, 2010. "The Effect of Infrastructure Access and Quality on Non-Farm Enterprises in Rural Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 717-726, May.
    2. Olsson, Jerry, 2009. "Improved road accessibility and indirect development effects: evidence from rural Philippines," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 476-483.
    3. repec:wbk:wbpubs:13911 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Hu, Yujie & Downs, Joni, 2019. "Measuring and visualizing place-based space-time job accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 278-288.
    5. Nguyen Viet Cuong, 2011. "Estimation of the impact of rural roads on household welfare in Viet Nam," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 18(2), pages 105-135, December.
    6. Frank, Laura & Dirks, Nicolas & Walther, Grit, 2021. "Improving rural accessibility by locating multimodal mobility hubs," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Peter Warr, 2010. "Roads And Poverty In Rural Laos: An Econometric Analysis," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 152-169, February.
    8. Vergne, Clémence, 2009. "Democracy, elections and allocation of public expenditures in developing countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 63-77, March.
    9. Pohekar, S.D. & Ramachandran, M., 2006. "Multi-criteria evaluation of cooking devices with special reference to utility of parabolic solar cooker (PSC) in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1215-1227.
    10. Canbolat, Yavuz Burak & Chelst, Kenneth & Garg, Nitin, 2007. "Combining decision tree and MAUT for selecting a country for a global manufacturing facility," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 312-325, June.
    11. Moussa P. Blimpo & Robin Harding & Leonard Wantchekon, 2013. "Public Investment in Rural Infrastructure: Some Political Economy Considerations," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(suppl_2), pages -83, August.
    12. I. N. Lagoudis & C. S. Lalwani & M.M. Naim, 2006. "Ranking of factors contributing to higher performance in the ocean transportation industry: a multi-attribute utility theory approach," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 345-369, September.
    13. Macharis, Cathy & Bernardini, Annalia, 2015. "Reviewing the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for the evaluation of transport projects: Time for a multi-actor approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 177-186.
    14. Gbemisola Oseni & Paul Winters, 2009. "Rural nonfarm activities and agricultural crop production in Nigeria," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 189-201, March.
    15. Ashoke Sarkar & Dipak Ghosh, 2000. "Identification and prioritisation of access problems in rural areas," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 149-156.
    16. Maria Rosaria Guarini & Fabrizio Battisti & Anthea Chiovitti, 2018. "A Methodology for the Selection of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Methods in Real Estate and Land Management Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-28, February.
    17. Mikou,Mehdi & Rozenberg,Julie & Koks,Elco Eduard & Fox,Charles James Edward & Peralta Quiros,Tatiana, 2019. "Assessing Rural Accessibility and Rural Roads Investment Needs Using Open Source Data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8746, The World Bank.
    18. Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone & Giancarlo Cotella, 2020. "Improving Rural Accessibility: A Multilayer Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, April.
    19. Mani, Anandi & Mukand, Sharun, 2007. "Democracy, visibility and public good provision," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 506-529, July.
    20. Gachassin, Marie & Najman, Boris & Raballand, Gael, 2010. "The impact of roads on poverty reduction : a case study of Cameroon," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5209, The World Bank.
    21. Saleh Ahmed & Elizabeth Eklund, 2019. "Rural Accessibility, Rural Development, and Natural Disasters in Bangladesh," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 35(3), pages 391-411, September.
    22. Iimi,Atsushi & Lancelot,Eric R. & Manelici,Isabela & Ogita,Satoshi, 2015. "Social and economic impacts of rural road improvements in the state of Tocantins, Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7249, The World Bank.
    23. van de Walle, Dominique, 2002. "Choosing Rural Road Investments to Help Reduce Poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 575-589, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mehmet Şahin, 2024. "Ensemble decision making for logistics center location," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 30527-30561, December.
    2. Julio Manuel de Luis-Ruiz & Benito Ramiro Salas-Menocal & Raúl Pereda-García & Rubén Pérez-Álvarez & Javier Sedano-Cibrián & Carolina Ruiz-Fernández, 2024. "Optimal Location of Solar Photovoltaic Plants Using Geographic Information Systems and Multi-Criteria Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-22, March.
    3. Bao, Ligao & Kusadokoro, Motoi & Chitose, Atsushi, 2025. "Financing road projects and its impact on off-farm work in rural China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Yuanyuan Zhu & John Aloysius Zinda & Qin Liu & Yukuan Wang & Bin Fu & Ming Li, 2023. "Accessibility of Primary Schools in Rural Areas and the Impact of Topography: A Case Study in Nanjiang County, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Song, Yan & Xiu, Yifan & Zhou, Liping & Wang, Jingyuan, 2024. "Implementing multi-attribute utility theory in service recovery: An operational management perspective on online retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Mojtaba Mahmoodian & Farham Shahrivar & Chunqing Li, 2022. "Maintenance Prioritisation of Irrigation Infrastructure Using a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methodology under a Fuzzy Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-35, November.
    7. Maria del Mar Casanovas-Rubio & Bernat Vinolas, 2024. "New method for assigning cardinal weights in multi-criteria decision-making: the constant weight ratio method," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1-33, June.

    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. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    2. Shin Takada & So Morikawa & Rika Idei & Hironori Kato, 2021. "Impacts of improvements in rural roads on household income through the enhancement of market accessibility in rural areas of Cambodia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2857-2881, October.
    3. Chakrabarti, Sandip, 2025. "Rural roads and economic development: Insights from India," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 305-318.
    4. Lindy Charlery & Martin R. Nielsen & Henrik Meilby & Carsten Smith-Hall, 2016. "Effects of New Roads on Environmental Resource Use in the Central Himalaya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, April.
    5. Michael Lokshin & Aylén Rodriguez‐Ferrari & Iván Torre, 2024. "Electoral cycles and public spending during the pandemic," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 1077-1107, August.
    6. Nkechi S. Owoo & Wim Naudé, 2017. "Spatial proximity and firm performance: evidence from non-farm rural enterprises in Ethiopia and Nigeria," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 688-700, May.
    7. Cuong Viet Nguyen & Tuyen Quang Tran & Huong Vu, 2017. "Ethnic Minorities in Northern Mountains of Vietnam: Employment, Poverty and Income," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 93-115, October.
    8. Aparajita Dasgupta & Devvrat Raghav, 2024. "Rural Roads, Climate Change, and the Dynamics of Structural Transformation: Evidence from India," Working Papers 122, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    9. Getahun, Tigabu & Fetene, Gebeyehu, "undated". "Determinants of Participation in Rural Off-Farm Activities and Its Effects on Food Shortage, Relative Deprivation and Diet Diversity," Discussion Papers 319328, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    10. Kaczan, David J., 2020. "Can roads contribute to forest transitions?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    11. Bai, Caiquan & Zhang, Yan & Wang, Chao & Xue, Qihang & Feng, Chen, 2024. "Flattening of government hierarchies and growth of farmers’ income," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    12. Mamoudou Ba & Amar Anwar & Mazhar Mughal, 2021. "Non‐farm employment and poverty reduction in Mauritania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 490-514, April.
    13. Ada Wolny & Marek Ogryzek & Ryszard Źróbek, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Development and Preventing Exclusions—Determining Road Accessibility at the Sub-Regional and Local Level in Rural Areas of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-21, September.
    14. Banick, Robert & Heyns, Andries M. & Regmi, Suraj, 2021. "Evaluation of rural roads construction alternatives according to seasonal service accessibility improvement using a novel multi-modal cost-time model: A study in Nepal's remote and mountainous Karnali province," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    15. Konidari, Popi & Mavrakis, Dimitrios, 2007. "A multi-criteria evaluation method for climate change mitigation policy instruments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6235-6257, December.
    16. Juschten, Maria & Hössinger, Reinhard, 2026. "Assessing commuting-related accessibility inequalities in rural Innviertel, Austria," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    17. Yang Zhou & Chunyang Tong & Yongsheng Wang, 2022. "Road construction, economic growth, and poverty alleviation in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1306-1332, September.
    18. Idei, Rika & Kato, Hironori & Morikawa, So, 2020. "Contribution of rural roads improvement on children’s school attendance: Evidence in Cambodia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Claudia N. Berg & Uwe Deichmann & Yishen Liu & Harris Selod, 2017. "Transport Policies and Development," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 465-480, April.
    20. Nguyen Viet, Cuong, 2012. "Ethnic Minorities in Northern Mountains of Vietnam: Poverty, Income and Assets," MPRA Paper 40769, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:soceps:v:82:y:2022:i:pb:s0038012122000349. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/seps .

    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.