Social infrastructure and productivity of manufacturing firms: Evidence from Pakistan

Riaz Ahmed

No 16-038, ZEW Discussion Papers from ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Abstract: Does investment in social infrastructure affect the productivity of manufacturing firms in developing countries? To test this question, I empirically investigate the impact of social infrastructure indicators at district level on firm productivity using firm level data from Pakistan. I split my sample into rural and urban regions to capture the effect of regional disparities in investment in social goods while controlling for a potential selection bias from firms' decision to locate in regions with better infrastructure equipment. My findings reveal that indicators of health and education are positively and significantly related to firm level productivity in manufacturing industries in Pakistan. However, these results hold for urban districts only. For rural regions, both health and education show a negative impact on firm productivity.

Keywords: Firm Productivity; Social Infrastructure; Health and Education; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D24 H51 H52 I15 I25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cse, nep-eff, nep-pr~ and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16038

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