The Role Of Infrastructure In The Socio-Economic Development Of Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The role of infrastructure in the socio-economic development of Cross River State was examined in this study for the period 1998-2020 using the ordinary least square method. Expenditure on health, education, and transport were used as measures of infrastructure and the gross state product per capita as a proxy for socio-economic progress. The period taken was due to data availability, and the methodology was adopted because of its best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) property. The descriptive statistics of the variables showed that the means and standard deviations were relatively small (i.e., all less than ten except for GSPC), which points to the stability of the variables and thus can be relied upon for the regression analysis. The regression result revealed that the public expenditure on health (HEC had a direct and significant relationship with the gross state product per capita (GSPC), while expenditure on transport had an inverse and significant relationship with GSPC. This implies that expenditure on health has the potential to improve the well-being of the people.  The study recommended that the transition from the release of public funds to the implementation of the projects for which the funds were meant must be strengthened to ensure that the expected dividends of public expenses on infrastructure are enjoyed in the form of better socio-economic progress.