What explains regional imbalances in public infrastructure expenditure? Evidence from Indian states.

Why do Indian States Differ in Their Infrastructure Development?

“…However, other factors such as public investment, political stability, and interdependence in infrastructure spending among states are also important factors. The present study differs from Mohanty et al (2017) in multiple ways. First, our study tries to empirically find out the drivers of infrastructure development in stock form for three categories of infrastructure -physical, social, and financial, whereas Mohanty et al examine the determinants of per capita infrastructure (flow) expenditure on economic and social infrastructure.…”

“…Existing studies examining the factors influencing infrastructure investments in India include Mohanty et al (2017), Pradhan (2017), Rasul and Sharma (2014), Ghate (2008), Pillai (2008, and Umdor & Panda (2007). Ghate (2008) develops theoretical models and proves that the fixed cost of accessing the modern sector, the initial level of infrastructure, the wealth of median voters, and corruption explain variation in infrastructure investment across states.…”

“…Therefore, reducing the fixed cost of accessing the modern sector and reducing corruption and appropriate credit policy will attract investment in infrastructure. Mohanty et al (2017) analyze factors affecting per capita infrastructure expenditure in 14 major Indian states for the 1991-2010 period. They find different levels of resource mobilization, per capita income, and population density explain the differences in infrastructure levels in these states.…”

“…While studies such as Chakraborty and Guha (2009), Bajar (2014), and Nallathiga (2015) discuss the nexus between variations in infrastructure development and economic performance across the Indian states, they do not empirically examine the factors responsible for differential development of infrastructure. The existing studies on infrastructure development at the state level mainly looked at three aspects viz., determinants of per capita infrastructure expenditure (Mohanty et al 2017); drivers of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the infrastructure sector (Anant and Singh;Kaur & Malik, 2020); divergence in infrastructure development and economic growth (Pillai, 2008;Pradhan, 2017;Rasul and Sharma, 2014;Umdor & Panda, 2007), etc. Overall, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that empirically examined the drivers of differential development of infrastructure stocks at the state level in India.…”

Impacts of infrastructure (in)equity and social (in)justice on democratic nation-building processes in Ethiopia

“…In other ways, the Ethiopian federal government uses infrastructure investments in the construction sector as a tool for job creation, increased work for local firms, and ultimately poverty alleviation and economic growth, all of which have a significant impact on social justice, particularly for women (Patra and Acharya, 2011;Rubin, 2006;Wismadi, 2015). However, empirical evidence suggests that these development goals may not be accomplished as planned due to large regional disparities in infrastructure distribution and the quality of public-goods administration (Kanth and Geiger, 2017;Mohanty et al, 2018).…”