Impact of Regional Infrastructure Facilities on Provincial GDP in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction :

Infrastructure facilities in a country play a significant role in citizens’ daily activities as well as in the overall economy. Transport, petroleum, electricity, port activities, telecommunication, water and sanitation come under economic infrastructure whereas health and education fall under social infrastructure (Amarathunge et al., 2007). An efficient and developed system of economic and social infrastructure across the country is essential for creating opportunities for economic growth, poverty alleviation and employment generation.

As identified by Amarathunge et al. (2007), the physical infrastructure system is the backbone of any nation and a sturdy infrastructure network can increase productivity, reduce the cost of production, increase trade and reduce poverty. On the other hand, Uduporuwa (2007) highlights that lack of infrastructure facilities can create major disasters or can augment the negative effects of disasters. Hence the absence of adequate infrastructure facilities is one of the major barriers for national as well as regional development (Sri Ranjith and Thilanka, 2019).

Regional disparity - uneven and unbalanced distribution of economic development in infrastructure facilities experienced by different districts or provinces is a commonly discussed issue. In the Sri Lankan context, scholars highlight that over the last decade the disparity in provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution is relatively high (Sri Ranjith and Thilanka, 2019). Further, infrastructure was identified as responsible for determining the regional GDP contribution (Uduporuwa, 2007). With this backdrop the research problem of this study is as follows: differences in infrastructure facilities across the provinces have direct and indirect impacts on the regional GDP, which thus create regional disparities. Henceforth, the study examines how differences in key infrastructure facilities may create disparities across regional economies.