Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005

This paper provides a systematic, empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure quality on the total factor productivity (TFP) of African manufacturing firms. This measure is understood to include quality in the provision of customs clearanc...

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Main Authors: Escribano, Alvaro, Guasch, J. Luis, Pena, Jorge
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
AIR
GDP
ICT
TAX
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/01/11699361/assessing-impact-infrastructure-quality-firm-productivity-africa-cross-country-comparisons-based-investment-climate-surveys-1999-2005
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19901
id okr-10986-19901
recordtype oai_dc
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic ADVERSE EFFECTS
AFFORDABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
AIR
AIR TRANSPORT
ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY
AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY
BENCHMARK
BOOK VALUE
BOTTLENECKS
BUSINESS INDICATORS
CAPITAL STOCK
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
COMPETITIVE MARKETS
COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS
COMPETITIVENESS
CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
CUSTOM
CUSTOMER DEMANDS
CUSTOMS
CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
DEFLATORS
DEPRECIATION RATE
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
DRIVERS
E-BUSINESSES
E-MAIL
ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMETRIC METHODOLOGY
ECONOMETRIC RESULTS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC FACTORS
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMICS
ELASTICITIES
ELASTICITY
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY GENERATORS
ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
EMPLOYMENT
EQUIPMENT
EXPECTED RETURNS
EXPORT PERFORMANCE
EXPORTS
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FOREIGN INVESTORS
FUEL
FUNCTIONAL FORMS
GDP
GDP PER CAPITA
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS
GLOBAL ECONOMY
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
GROWTH RATE
GROWTH RATES
HUMAN CAPITAL
ICT
IMPACT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
IMPERFECT INFORMATION
INCOME LEVELS
INEFFICIENCY
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INFRASTRUCTURE COST
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISION
INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR
INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING
INNOVATION
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
INVENTORY
INVESTMENT CLIMATE
LABOR COSTS
LABOR FORCE
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY
LABOR RELATIONS
LICENSE
LICENSES
MANUFACTURING
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY
MARKET CONDITIONS
MARKET SHARE
MARKET SHARES
MARKETING
MISSING VALUES
MONOPOLIES
PER CAPITA INCOME
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT
PERFORMANCES
PHONE CONNECTION
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
PORT INFRASTRUCTURE
POWER
PRIVATE CAPITAL
PRIVATE INVESTMENTS
PRIVATE SECTOR
PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTIVITY
PUBLIC INVESTMENT
PUBLIC PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE
QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION
R&D
RAILROAD
RAILWAYS
REAL WAGES
REGRESSION ANALYSES
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
RESULT
RESULTS
ROADS
SANITATION
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SUPPLIERS
TAX
TAX INCENTIVES
TELECOM
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE
TELEPHONE
TELEPHONE LINES
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRADE SERVICES
TRANSACTION
TRANSACTION COSTS
TRANSIT
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT COSTS
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
TRANSPORT SERVICES
TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
TRUE
USES
WAGES
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
spellingShingle ADVERSE EFFECTS
AFFORDABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
AIR
AIR TRANSPORT
ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY
AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY
BENCHMARK
BOOK VALUE
BOTTLENECKS
BUSINESS INDICATORS
CAPITAL STOCK
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
COMPETITIVE MARKETS
COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS
COMPETITIVENESS
CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
CUSTOM
CUSTOMER DEMANDS
CUSTOMS
CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
DEFLATORS
DEPRECIATION RATE
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
DRIVERS
E-BUSINESSES
E-MAIL
ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMETRIC METHODOLOGY
ECONOMETRIC RESULTS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC FACTORS
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMICS
ELASTICITIES
ELASTICITY
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY GENERATORS
ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
EMPLOYMENT
EQUIPMENT
EXPECTED RETURNS
EXPORT PERFORMANCE
EXPORTS
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FOREIGN INVESTORS
FUEL
FUNCTIONAL FORMS
GDP
GDP PER CAPITA
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS
GLOBAL ECONOMY
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
GROWTH RATE
GROWTH RATES
HUMAN CAPITAL
ICT
IMPACT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
IMPERFECT INFORMATION
INCOME LEVELS
INEFFICIENCY
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INFRASTRUCTURE COST
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISION
INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR
INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING
INNOVATION
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
INVENTORY
INVESTMENT CLIMATE
LABOR COSTS
LABOR FORCE
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY
LABOR RELATIONS
LICENSE
LICENSES
MANUFACTURING
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY
MARKET CONDITIONS
MARKET SHARE
MARKET SHARES
MARKETING
MISSING VALUES
MONOPOLIES
PER CAPITA INCOME
PERFORMANCE MEASURES
PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT
PERFORMANCES
PHONE CONNECTION
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
PORT INFRASTRUCTURE
POWER
PRIVATE CAPITAL
PRIVATE INVESTMENTS
PRIVATE SECTOR
PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTIVITY
PUBLIC INVESTMENT
PUBLIC PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE
QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION
R&D
RAILROAD
RAILWAYS
REAL WAGES
REGRESSION ANALYSES
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
RESULT
RESULTS
ROADS
SANITATION
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SUPPLIERS
TAX
TAX INCENTIVES
TELECOM
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE
TELEPHONE
TELEPHONE LINES
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRADE SERVICES
TRANSACTION
TRANSACTION COSTS
TRANSIT
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT COSTS
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
TRANSPORT SERVICES
TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
TRUE
USES
WAGES
WATER INFRASTRUCTURE
Escribano, Alvaro
Guasch, J. Luis
Pena, Jorge
Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005
geographic_facet Africa
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 5191
description This paper provides a systematic, empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure quality on the total factor productivity (TFP) of African manufacturing firms. This measure is understood to include quality in the provision of customs clearance, energy, water, sanitation, transportation, telecommunications, and information and communications technology (ICT). Microeconometric techniques to investment climate surveys (ICSs) of 26 African countries are carried out in different years during the period 2002 6, making country-specific evaluations of the impact of investment climate (IC) quality on aggregate TFP, average TFP, and allocative efficiency. For each country the impact is evaluated based on 10 different productivity measures. Results are robust once controlled for observable fixed effects (red tape, corruption and crime, finance, innovation and labor skills, etc.) obtained from the ICSs. African countries are ranked according to several indices: per capita income, ease of doing business, firm perceptions of growth bottlenecks, and the concept of demeaned productivity (Olley and Pakes 1996). The countries are divided into two blocks: high-income-growth and low-income-growth. Infrastructure quality has a low impact on TFP in countries of the first block and a high (negative) impact in countries of the second. There is significant heterogeneity in the individual infrastructure elements affecting countries from both blocks. Poor-quality electricity provision affects mainly poor countries, whereas problems dealing with customs while importing or exporting affects mainly faster-growing countries. Losses from transport interruptions affect mainly slower-growing countries. Water outages affect mainly slower-growing countries. There is also some heterogeneity among countries in the infrastructure determinants of the allocative efficiency of African firms.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Escribano, Alvaro
Guasch, J. Luis
Pena, Jorge
author_facet Escribano, Alvaro
Guasch, J. Luis
Pena, Jorge
author_sort Escribano, Alvaro
title Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005
title_short Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005
title_full Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005
title_fullStr Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005
title_sort assessing the impact of infrastructure quality on firm productivity in africa : cross-country comparisons based on investment climate surveys from 1999 to 2005
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2014
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/01/11699361/assessing-impact-infrastructure-quality-firm-productivity-africa-cross-country-comparisons-based-investment-climate-surveys-1999-2005
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19901
_version_ 1764444021814460416
spelling okr-10986-199012021-04-23T14:03:52Z Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005 Escribano, Alvaro Guasch, J. Luis Pena, Jorge ADVERSE EFFECTS AFFORDABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES AIR AIR TRANSPORT ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY BENCHMARK BOOK VALUE BOTTLENECKS BUSINESS INDICATORS CAPITAL STOCK COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY COMPETITIVE MARKETS COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS COMPETITIVENESS CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CUSTOM CUSTOMER DEMANDS CUSTOMS CUSTOMS CLEARANCE DEFLATORS DEPRECIATION RATE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DRIVERS E-BUSINESSES E-MAIL ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS ECONOMETRIC METHODOLOGY ECONOMETRIC RESULTS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC FACTORS ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMICS ELASTICITIES ELASTICITY ELECTRICITY ELECTRICITY GENERATORS ELECTRICITY SUPPLY EMPLOYMENT EQUIPMENT EXPECTED RETURNS EXPORT PERFORMANCE EXPORTS FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FOREIGN INVESTORS FUEL FUNCTIONAL FORMS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GEOGRAPHICAL AREA GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS GLOBAL ECONOMY GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH RATE GROWTH RATES HUMAN CAPITAL ICT IMPACT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IMPERFECT INFORMATION INCOME LEVELS INEFFICIENCY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE COST INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISION INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL STANDARD INVENTORY INVESTMENT CLIMATE LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR PRODUCTIVITY LABOR RELATIONS LICENSE LICENSES MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET SHARE MARKET SHARES MARKETING MISSING VALUES MONOPOLIES PER CAPITA INCOME PERFORMANCE MEASURES PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCES PHONE CONNECTION PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PORT INFRASTRUCTURE POWER PRIVATE CAPITAL PRIVATE INVESTMENTS PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION PRODUCTION FUNCTION PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC INVESTMENT PUBLIC PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION R&D RAILROAD RAILWAYS REAL WAGES REGRESSION ANALYSES REGRESSION ANALYSIS RESULT RESULTS ROADS SANITATION SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS SUPPLIERS TAX TAX INCENTIVES TELECOM TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE TELEPHONE TELEPHONE LINES TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRADE SERVICES TRANSACTION TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSIT TRANSPORT TRANSPORT COSTS TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE TRANSPORT SERVICES TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION SERVICES TRUE USES WAGES WATER INFRASTRUCTURE This paper provides a systematic, empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure quality on the total factor productivity (TFP) of African manufacturing firms. This measure is understood to include quality in the provision of customs clearance, energy, water, sanitation, transportation, telecommunications, and information and communications technology (ICT). Microeconometric techniques to investment climate surveys (ICSs) of 26 African countries are carried out in different years during the period 2002 6, making country-specific evaluations of the impact of investment climate (IC) quality on aggregate TFP, average TFP, and allocative efficiency. For each country the impact is evaluated based on 10 different productivity measures. Results are robust once controlled for observable fixed effects (red tape, corruption and crime, finance, innovation and labor skills, etc.) obtained from the ICSs. African countries are ranked according to several indices: per capita income, ease of doing business, firm perceptions of growth bottlenecks, and the concept of demeaned productivity (Olley and Pakes 1996). The countries are divided into two blocks: high-income-growth and low-income-growth. Infrastructure quality has a low impact on TFP in countries of the first block and a high (negative) impact in countries of the second. There is significant heterogeneity in the individual infrastructure elements affecting countries from both blocks. Poor-quality electricity provision affects mainly poor countries, whereas problems dealing with customs while importing or exporting affects mainly faster-growing countries. Losses from transport interruptions affect mainly slower-growing countries. Water outages affect mainly slower-growing countries. There is also some heterogeneity among countries in the infrastructure determinants of the allocative efficiency of African firms. 2014-09-02T14:24:50Z 2014-09-02T14:24:50Z 2010-01 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/01/11699361/assessing-impact-infrastructure-quality-firm-productivity-africa-cross-country-comparisons-based-investment-climate-surveys-1999-2005 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19901 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 5191 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa