The impact of infrastructure sustainable development efficiency on economies: the case of selected ASEAN countries

This research article intends to confirm that sustainable infrastructure development plays a significant role in driving the economies of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV countries). The panel data were collected from 2010 to 2021 to quantify the technical efficiency of infrastructure development and its impact on the economies of these countries: the GDP, the telecommunications sector, the energy sector, water system resources, and the transportation sector. In addition, the stochastic meta-frontier and the stochastic meta-frontier based on the copula model were employed to quantify the efficiency economies, represented by driving GDP up using fewer input factors (infrastructure input factors are less used). The result of this research study found that the stochastic meta-frontier model-based copula performed well enough to be the appropriate model to evaluate the technical efficiency of sustainable infrastructure development, which will impact the economies of these countries in the future. Additionally, this model suggests that the efficiency trend has decreased. It is implied that these countries lack technological sharing or technological transfer for infrastructure development. If this outcome is believable, it must be a priority to collaborate on sharing and transferring technology for infrastructure development among them. The research suggests that infrastructure development in sectors like telecommunications, energy, water resources, and transportation in Thailand and CLMV countries requires greater collaboration. Specifically, there's a need for technological sharing or transferring to prioritize emerging collaborations for future infrastructure development.