This paper was my undergraduate honors thesis, and is really only for the bravest of mathematicians or economists. 

In this paper, I create an infrastructure index to compare the level of a country’s development side-by-side.  I apply this index to Argentina and Chile and compare them with developed countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. 

I then develop estimates for steady-state levels of GDP using a Solow growth model incorporating technology, human capital, environmental degradation, and level of infrastructure. 

In general, I find that infrastructure is significant with regard to economic growth and steady-state growth rates, however the infrastructure index (IIX) needs further research to better establish its predictive qualities. 

Click here to read this (lengthy) paper