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Infrastructure Gaps

Level:
A-Level
Board:
AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, IB, OCR, WJEC

Last updated 22 Dec 2018

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Infrastructure gaps limit economic growth & human development - this short revision video helps to explain why

Infrastructure Gaps

Infrastructure gaps limit growth & human development because

  1. It increases supply costs for businesses – this causes higher prices – therefore hitting real incomes for consumers
  2. Reduces geographical mobility of labour causing higher structural unemployment (labour market failure)
  3. Damages export competitiveness and limits intra-regional trade (e.g. trade within the sub Saharan Africa continent)
  4. Can make a country less attractive to inward foreign direct investment (FDI) which might then slow economic growth
  5. Makes an economy vulnerable to effects of climate change / natural disasters such as flooding and earthquakes
  6. Contributes to gender inequality

Here is a good example of the economic cost of poor infrastructure on the Indian economy.

"The poor quality of electricity supply imposes major costs on the Indian economy; electricity shortages, for example, reduce manufacturing plant revenues by 5-10%."

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