Resource information
Infrastructure's interactions with
and importance to the economies of developing countries have
not been fully understood. This is evident in the
Bank's approach to sector work in infrastructure and in
its structural adjustment programs, which emphasize
adjusting prices to the detriment of a country's
infrastructure. Still, the available evidence indicates that
in poorer countries with inadequate infrastructure,
imperfect markets, and a lack of capital, the aggregate
supply elasticity of agriculture to non-price factors, such
as public goods and services, is substantially greater than
the response to prices. Research and policy analysis are
needed to understand the way in which infrastructure affects
economic performance and to examine how this should be taken
into account in our policy interventions, both in
infrastructure sectors and in overall macroeconomic
management. The sub-Saharan African Transport Program
(SSATP) is trying to help governments in sub-Saharan Africa
improve their transport policies and programs and enhance
the effectiveness and efficiency of the transport sector. It
helps governments of sub-Saharan Africa define much needed
policy reforms and assists with their implementation. This
document is the first SSATP publication which addresses the
relationship between transport and economic performance and
considers the implications of these linkages for sector
policy. It reviews the literature on the linkages between
transport and economic performance.
