Publication:
Does Africa Need More Roads in the Digital Age?: Evidence of Complementarities in Infrastructure

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dc.contributor.authorLebrand, Mathilde
dc.contributor.authorMongoue, Arcady
dc.contributor.authorPongou, Roland
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Fan
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-22T14:31:58Z
dc.date.available2024-03-22T14:31:58Z
dc.date.issued2024-03-22
dc.description.abstractThis paper investigates whether the expansion of fast internet networks complements or substitutes for the development of roads to improve market access and create more and higher-skilled jobs in Africa. The paper combines the geographic locations of households and firms with the locations of main roads and optical-fiber nodes in 25 Sub-Saharan African countries. Using the difference-in-differences and instrumental variables approaches and leveraging the history of post-independence road building and the timing of the arrival of submarine internet, the paper examines the impacts of access to these two types of infrastructure, both in isolation and in combination. The findings show that improving access to both has large and positive complementary effects. On average, the additional impacts on employment from combining access to both types of infrastructure are 22 percent larger than the sum of their isolated effects. The findings suggest that a big push for combined investments in fast internet and road access could enhance economic development in Africa overall. Firms and workers in urban locations, female workers, and workers with higher levels of education gain the most from the complementarities that emerge.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099205403212436510/IDU1e135d75d14e2014ce11bffe1bf74ec415a50
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10730
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/41256
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWashington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper; 10730
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectINFRASTRUCTURE
dc.subjectEMPLOYMENT
dc.subjectSTRUCTURED TRANSFORMATION
dc.subjectAFRICA
dc.titleDoes Africa Need More Roads in the Digital Age?en
dc.title.subtitleEvidence of Complementarities in Infrastructureen
dc.typeWorking Paper
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleDoes Africa Need More Roads in the Digital Age?: Evidence of Complementarities in Infrastructure
okr.date.disclosure2024-03-22
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-07T08:34:43.229251Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-08T16:16:29.789684Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-09T02:48:19.566719Z
okr.date.lastmodified2024-03-21T00:00:00Zen
okr.doctypePolicy Research Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099205403212436510/IDU1e135d75d14e2014ce11bffe1bf74ec415a50
okr.guid099205403212436510
okr.identifier.docmidIDU-e135d75d-4e20-4ce1-bffe-bf74ec415a50
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10730
okr.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-10730
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum34286105
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum34286105
okr.identifier.reportWPS10730
okr.import.id3560
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099205403212436510/pdf/IDU1e135d75d14e2014ce11bffe1bf74ec415a50.pdfen
okr.region.geographicalAfrica
okr.topicInformation and Communication Technologies::ICT Applications
okr.topicInfrastructure Economics and Finance::Infrastructure Economics
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Employment and Unemployment
okr.unitChief Economist Infrastructure (INFCE)
relation.isAuthorOfPublication638d03a5-dedb-4a52-95ab-bcedc3fc5302
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery638d03a5-dedb-4a52-95ab-bcedc3fc5302
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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