CONTRIBUTION OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE TO ECONOMIC GROWTH IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION

Abstract

The process of economic development in any country is assumed to evolve through a series of stages. The nature of these process depends on a number of factors such as the structure of each country's economy given its natural endowed resources, the employment of technology and the individual country's position in the world economy. The amount of investment in transport infrastructure in any country is immense. The impact on a nation's economy is tremendous. Transport infrastructure is intimately woven into the daily life of individuals in our society through the uses of road, port and airport infrastructure. For example, the existence of road network allows individuals and goods to move from one place to another safely and efficiently. Because of its constant presence, transport infrastructure is often taken for granted until it fails i.e., when bottleneck occurs. This study assesses the impact of transport infrastructure to economic growth in the Asia and the Pacific region. Various types of transport infrastructure are looked at, namely road, port and airport development. The results show that expenditure on transport infrastructure does contribute to economic growth. However, the extents of its influence vary across countries. Thailand's model is the most sensitive. While the other seven countries' expenditure elasticities are relatively inelastic.