The role of public infrastructures in the competitiveness of Burkina Faso's exports in the WAEMU area

SIRPE Gnanderman and SIGUE Moussa

Department of Economy University Ouaga II, Burkina Faso.

Accepted January 29, 2019

This article investigates the leading factors of Burkina Faso intra-WAEMU exports competitiveness by highlighting the role of public infrastructure spending. A Granger causality test used for this task revealed a unidirectional causality from public infrastructure spending to export competitiveness. Also, a Tobit model applied to time series data from 1980 to 2015 shows that, in addition to public infrastructure spending, the GDP per capita, and the direct foreign direct investment ratio are positively and significantly affecting the country's intra-WAEMU exports competitiveness. However, the general level of prices has a negative and significant influence on the competitiveness of the country's intra-WAEMU exports.

Key words: intra-WAEMU export competitiveness, public infrastructure spending, Granger causality, Burkina Faso, JEL classification: C24-F43-H54.

Full Text PDF (530 KB)