Infrastructure Development and Subjective Well-being in Africa: Linkages and Pathways

AbstractUnlike previous studies which focused on the economic effects of infrastructures, this paper contributes to the literature by analysing the contribution of infrastructure development to well-being, considered the aim of all efforts. The paper uses composite infrastructure indexes from the African Development Bank, to capture infrastructure quality and the life ladder index as proxy for subjective well-being on a sample of 29 African countries during the 2007 –2018 period. Estimates are done using panel corrected standard errors, Tobit regression, and the generalised method of moments. Results show that infrastructure development boosts the well-being of Africans. Further analysis at the disaggregated level shows that information and communication tech nology (ICT) and electricity are the main drivers of happiness in the region. After testing for possible mediators, human capital is found to be the main channel through which infrastructure development enhance subjective well-being in Africa. Therefore, policies aiming to promote the well-being of Africans should consider investments in infrastructure development, especially ICT, electricity, transport, water supply, and sanitation services. This would in turn improve the performance of institutions and human capital, contributing to the well-being of Africans.
Source: Global Social Welfare - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research