Role of Infrastructure in the Growth of BRICS

Abstract

BRICS economies have been identified as some of the faster growing economies in the world with an average growth rate of 4.1 percent, which is 2.7 percent higher than the average growth rate of developed countries. Infrastructure not only affects production and consumption directly but also creates number of externalities leading to rapid development. Moreover, there is scarcity of systematic and empirical work related to examining the relationship between economic growth and infrastructure facilities for BRICS nations. The present study attempts to comparatively analyze the relative role of infrastructure facilities in determining the economic development among BRICS. The findings of the study indicate that infrastructure plays a very important role in the growth process of BRICS nations. The results indicate that there is disparity among the nations, both in terms of availability of infrastructure facilities and per capita income. Differences are found in individual performance among the countries in terms of all the basic indicators of development.