Governments the world over have long been investing in infrastructure in the hope of boosting economic development of their country. To study the relationship between infrastructure and economic development, we compared two journals; Infrastructure and Local Economic Development by Rives, J & Heaney, M. (1995) and Infrastructure and Economic Growth: The Nigeria Experience 1980-2006 by Enimola, S (2010). We chose these journals as the journal by Rives, J looked at the approach on a community/state level whereas the journal by Enimola, S looked at it at a national level. Hence, we were able to look at the topic at a micro and macro level. We compared the objectives of both journals, along with the methodological approach, definition and calculation method. We also studied the results of the study in the journals and compared the effect of different variables on economic development.
Objective
Rivas and Heaney: Infrastructure and Local Economic Development
The objective of the journal by Rives and Heaney is to establish the relationship between infrastructure and the economic development of a community.
Although there is a well-established linkage between infrastructure and economic development at the national level, few researches have been done on the community or state level. This research is important as the decision on infrastructure spending is done at the local level, regardless of whether it is funded by the local or federal government.
It is hoped that from the insights of these journals, local governments can make better decisions on infrastructure investments and maximize economic growth as a result.
Enimola: Infrastructure and Economic Growth
The purpose of the Enimola article is to establish whether there is a linkage between infrastructure investment levels and economic growth in the Nigerian economy over time.
Although there is clear linkage between them established in other countries, this article specifically