A model for construction sector development in middle-income sub-Saharan African countries
Abstract
Buildings and other constructed facilities form the essential framework of a country’s physical and economic infrastructure. Construction serves as a key capital input to production, driving economic growth and wealth generation. This impact can be particularly transformative in low-to-middle-income countries. Physical infrastructure, including construction, is a powerful engine of economic growth and is closely related to national economic performance. However, not all studies agree with the commonly held belief that construction investment has a positive impact on economic growth, particularly concerning the amount of investment and the relationship between construction investment and economic growth. So far, cross-country studies dealing with the construction sector-economic growth relationship have used indicators of national output and construction that are not strictly comparable between countries. This article reviews the main strands of the literature on the role that the construction sector plays in the national economy and economic development. It also uses novel data drawn from the “capital file” of the PENN World Table (version 10.1) to assess the development pattern of the construction sector in two groups of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries on the middle-income status of economic development, for the period between 1990 and 2019. The study reveals that construction shares, measured as the proportion of gross fixed capital formation attributable to construction in the gross domestic product, revolve around a norm determined by the level of built assets preceding the reference period. The results of the study could have policy implications for the economic sustainability of the construction industry in SSA.
first published online 17 May 2024
Keyword : built assets, built capital-national output ratio, construction sector, economic sustainability, PENN World Table, sub-Saharan Africa
How to Cite
Lopes, J., & Banaitienė, N. (2024). A model for construction sector development in middle-income sub-Saharan African countries. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 30(5), 1229–1255. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2024.21453
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Hogg, V., Tanis E., & Zimmerman, D. (2015). Probability and statistical inferences (9th ed.). Pearson.
Inklaar, R., Gallardo Albarrán, D., & Woltjer, P. (2019). The composition of capital and cross-country productivity comparisons. International Productivity Monitor, 36, 34–52.
Kodongo, O., & Ojah, K. (2016). Does infrastructure really explain economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa? Review of Development Finance, 6(2), 105–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rdf.2016.12.001
Lopes, J. (2012). Construction in the economy and its role in socio-economic development. In G. Ofori (Ed.), New perspectives in construction in developing countries (pp. 40–71). Spon Press.
Lopes, J. (2022). Construction in the economy and in national development. In G. Ofori (Ed.), Research companion to construction economics (pp. 104–125). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839108235.00013
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Lopes, J., Oliveira, R., & Abreu, M. I. (2017). The sustainability of the construction industry in sub-Saharan Africa: Some new evidence from recent data. Procedia Engineering, 172, 657–664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.02.077
Lopes, J., Ruddock, L., & Ribeiro, F. L. (2002). Investment in construction and economic growth in developing countries. Building Research and Information, 30(3), 152–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613210110114028
Ma, X., Huang, C., Fu, Y., Gao, J., & Qin, B. (2019). Study on evolution of China’s construction industry based on input-output analysis and complex network. Tehnički vjesnik, 26(1), 208–216. https://doi.org/10.17559/TV-20181219145712
Maddison, A. (1987). Growth and slowdown in advanced capitalist economies. Journal of Economic Literature, 25, 649–698.
Meng, J., Zhu, Y., & Han, Y. (2023). Can ‘new’ infrastructure become an engine of growth for the Chinese economy? Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 21(3), 341–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/14765284.2022.2036571
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