Institutional Quality, ICT Infrastructure, Transportation, and Sustainable Development: The Case of Lower Income Countries

Transportation is critical for the sustainable development of countries across the globe. A sound transportation system is important for the movement of goods, services, and people worldwide. In many developed economies, significant investments are channelled to develop efficient transportation systems. Intensifying investments in ICT and institutions of governance are critical to ensure that the transportation system deepens its impact on economic growth. Key challenges faced by many lower income countries (LICs) are lack of resources to increase investments in advanced transportation infrastructure and improving governance of the transportation system. This dampens economic growth in LICs. The present study examines the relationship between ICT infrastructure, transportation system, institutional governance, and economic growth in LICs using the panel VAR model from 2005 to 2022. The empirical analysis shows strong short-run and long-run dynamics between the variables; hence, careful curation of co-development policies is needed to enable LICs to transition onto a path of sustained economic growth.