Social infrastructure and productivity of manufacturing firms : evidence from Pakistan

Does investment in social infrastructure affect the productivity of manufacturing firms in developing countries? To test this question, I empirically investigate the impact of social infrastructure indicators at district level on firm productivity using firm level data from Pakistan. I split my sample into rural and urban regions to capture the effect of regional disparities in investment in social goods while controlling for a potential selection bias from firms‟ decision to locate in regions with better infrastructure equipment. My findings reveal that indicators of health and education are positively and significantly related to firm level productivity in manufacturing industries in Pakistan. However, these results hold for urban districts only. For rural regions, both health and education show a negative impact on firm productivity.