Infrastructure, Productivity and Urban Dynamic in Cote D'Ivoire

Recent contributions in economic geography reflect renewed interest in issues of location and spatial concentration of economic activities, yet there are still few empirical studies of developing countries, particularly in Africa. This paper aims to contribute to this body of knowledge by (i) documenting wide regional disparities in economic activity and infrastructure (especially between the north and the south), which were partly determined by regional development policy, and (ii) examining empirically to what extent spatial factors such as agglomeration economies contribute to labor productivity – and therefore to urban dynamics – using recent panel data from Côte d’Ivoire for the period from 1980 to 1996. The analysis indicates significant urbanization economies, notably those related to infrastructure, but the size of these economies varies across sectors and activities. In addition to providing linkages between markets, roads are critical in fostering dynamic growth of the urban areas in the hinterland, resulting in the concentration of economic activities. Localization economies also stimulate industrial productivity. And yet, as the poor growth record of Côte d’Ivoire in this period shows, the country failed to take advantage of these economies, and its declining capital stock, including infrastructure, may have contributed to the economic decline. The paper shows, for example, that inadequate road infrastructure clearly constrained the productivity of primary (agriculture and resource extraction) and tertiary (services) industries that take up the bulk of the total economic activity