Assessing the Policy Provisions and Institutional Behavioral Factors Influencing Rail Infrastructure Financing in Developing Countries

Abstract

Financing rail infrastructure development in developing countries has hitherto received scant academic attention, especially in empirical developments. This research study assesses the policy provisions and institutional behavioral factors influencing rail infrastructure financing in developing countries such as Ghana. An empirical and positivist epistemological lens was adopted using triangulation between deductive and inductive approaches to test three hypotheses. Methods adopted included questionnaire survey and interviews to gather primary data, and inferential statistics such as bivariate linear regression analysis. Factors identified that inhibit rail infrastructure development in developing countries include ineffective monitoring and evaluation, a largely neglected rail sector, and archaic financing posture. Based on the findings, prescriptive guidance on financing future rail infrastructure for policy makers and governments is delineated. This novel research identifies a number of interventions that, if implemented, will engender socioeconomic and regional intertrade integration and prosperity to the subregion of West Africa.