Efficiency-Adjusted Public Capital and Growth

This paper constructs an efficiency-adjusted public capital stock series and re-examines the public capital and growth relationship. The paper also examines the effects of four specific stages of the public investment process—appraisal, selection, implementation and evaluation—on capital accumulation and growth. The results show that public capital is a significant contributor to economic growth. The quality of public investment, as measured by variables capturing the adequacy of project selection and implementation, is statistically significant in explaining variations in economic growth, a result mainly driven by low-income countries.