Abstract
The aim of this paper is to estimate the impact of seaports investment on the economic growth. Seaports are seen by many governments as an important factor in the strengthening of the economies. During the last two decades, the Tunisian succeeding governments have been allocating a great amount of money to develop seaport infrastructures. However, the Tunisian economy witnessed fluctuations in the economic growth rates and decrease in the rate of employment during the same period of time. This study used an econometric model by employing the Cobb-Douglas production function. The sample was composed of Tunisia's economic sectors (manufacturing, services and agriculture) over the period 1983-2011. The results of the study show that the public investment in seaport infrastructures has apositive influence on Tunisian economic growth. The study also revealed that the biggest beneficiary from the seaport investment infrastructure is the service sector.
 
 This paper aims to estimate the impact of seaports investment on the economic growth. The seaports are seen by many governments as an important factor in the strengthening of the economies. During the last two decades, the Tunisian succeeding governments were allocating a great amount of money to develop seaports' infrastructures. However, the Tunisian economy witnessed fluctuating in the economic growth rates and decreased in the rate of employment during the same period of time. This study used an econometric model by employing the Cobb-Douglas production function. The sample composed of Tunisia's economic sectors (manufacturing, services and agriculture) over the period 1983-2011. The results of the study show that the public investment in seaports' infrastructures has a positive influence on Tunisian economic growth. The study also revealed that the biggest beneficiary from the seaports investment infrastructure is the services sector.
Highlights
Evaluating the economic impact of a seaport is an important subject both in the political and scientific debate
The positive estimated coefficients confirm that seaports are the key element of the Tunisian economy and the way will boost its economic growth
It was concluded that globally seaport investment has positive influences on the economic growth
Summary
Evaluating the economic impact of a seaport is an important subject both in the political and scientific debate. Political evaluation of economic impacts of a seaport is usually effectuated by the government to motivate the request for public funds for developing the existing infrastructure or to constructing a new seaport or to justify its social costs. In 2013 the Tunisian decision-makers decided to create a new seaport in the region of Enfidha, which will start in 2015 with 3,000 million dinars as an investment. It is considered as the Hub Port covering mainly 3,200 hectares, 2,000 of which are devoted to economic and logistic activities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
