Infrastructure Access and Household Welfare in Rural Ghana

• Published in: African development review Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 508 - 519
• Main Authors: Mensah, Emmanuel Joseph, Huchet-Bourdon, Marilyne, Latruffe, Laure
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2014; Wiley
• Subjects: Cost and standard of living; Developing Countries; Development economics; Electric power; Electricity; Empirical research; Endowments; Ghana; Household utilities; Households; Infrastructure; Life Sciences; Public infrastructure; Public transport; Public transportation; Rural Areas; Standard of Living; Studies; Surveys; Water; Water Supply; Welfare; Welfare economics; Welfare Services; Ghana; bien être économique; accès aux infrastructures; évaluation de l'influence
• ISSN: 1017-6772; 1467-8268
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-8268.12107

Empirical evidence in the literature on the extent to which access to different infrastructure services contribute to enhancing household economic welfare remains limited. Our paper contributes to fill in the gap by assessing the influence of access to public infrastructure on welfare in rural areas of a developing country such as Ghana, taking into account the heterogeneity in household endowment. Based on pseudo panel modelling and using three waves of nation‐wide household living standard surveys between 1991 and 2006, the empirical findings suggest that access to public transport, electricity and water infrastructure has important but differential impacts on household welfare.