Private and Public Investment Linkages: Some Evidence Using Sectoral Level Data

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the relationship between public and private investment in Pakistan at the aggregate and sectoral level, including the sectors of Agriculture, Manufacturing, Finance, Construction, Transport & Communication and Mining & Quarrying. For this purpose, annual time series data is utilized from 1971 to 2019 except for the Agriculture sector covering the period of 1981-2019 as data for previous years is not available from any published sources. Multivariate co-integration approach and ECM are employed to empirically analyze the existence of long-run and short-run association among public and private investment. The results indicate a long run complementary type relationship of public investment with private investment at both the aggregate and sectoral level except for the Finance sector. The short-run analysis supports this long-run positive association at an aggregate level and four sectors, excluding Transport & Communication and Agriculture sector where the results were insignificant. Our results and generally declining share of public investment highlight that the government is playing its role as an “enabler” (or facilitator) of private investment in terms of association between public and private investment.