Enhancing human development in developing regions: Do ICT and transport infrastructure matter?

Recent scholarly and policy discussions have focused on whether information and communication technology (ICT) and transport infrastructure enhance human development outcomes in developing countries. This study contributes to the knowledge and policy by exploring the impact of transport and ICT infrastructure on human development using comprehensive panel data for 79 countries from 1990 to 2018. Applying the two-step IV-GMM to correct endogeneity, our results reveal that for the transport infrastructure indicators, while port connectivity and port traffic enhance human development, freight and rail infrastructures do not. For the ICT infrastructure, the findings indicate that broadband, internet, and mobile phone penetration improve human development while telephone penetration and ICT goods have a neutral effect. The study also reveals that transport and ICT infrastructure have a disparate impact on human capital (education) and health (life expectancy, under-five, and maternal mortality). Further analysis reveals that the results differ among South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America-Caribbean. These results are robust to an alternative econometric estimator. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.