Public spending on road infrastructure and economic growth in Mali

Abstract

The road transport provides nearly 90% of trade, and 80% of person’s mobility in addition only 33% of the rural population has access to roads in Mali. The construction or rehabilitation of road infrastructure then becomes a key factor in growth. The aim of this article is to evaluate the contribution of public spending on road infrastructure (construction and rehabilitation) to economic growth in Mali. This article draws its originality from the use of data on the length of the road network as a proxy for road infrastructure. Using the error correction model over the period 2002-2020, our results show a long-term relationship between our variables. The error correction model is well specified, the error correction factor is significant at the 1% level and a 1% increase in the stock of road infrastructure leads to long-term growth of 0.87%. Taking into account the effects of public spending on road infrastructure on growth, the government must consider making the country's landlocked environment an absolute asset and this requires heavy investments.

Keywords: Public spending ; Road infrastructure ; Growth ; ECM

JEL classification: E22 ; R42 

Type of paper: Empirical research