Access to public infrastructure services is generally identified in the development literature as
critical for economic transformation. At the household level, infrastructure access can be
essential for improved socio-economic well-being. However, empirical evidence on the extent to
which access to different infrastructure services contribute to enhancing household welfare,
especially in the developing world, remains limited. In a comprehensive review of the literature
on this subject, Ayogu (2007) aptly surmise that overall … the question is not about whether
infrastructure matters but precisely how much it matters in different contexts? The present thesis
responds to this knowledge gap by providing some quantitative understanding of how much
infrastructure matters to economic development and in the context of Ghana’s development
experience since the 1990s. This is achieved by investigating, empirically, the direction and size
of the relationship between access to three different public infrastructure services and household
welfare. In so doing, the study presents a new construction of the Sustainable Livelihood
Framework. This is based on the concept of relative cumulative effect of institutions in the
determination of livelihood outcomes and the elaboration of livelihood assets by private and
public types. This framework is tested under the premise that infrastructure services are publicly
provided. Access to these public resources is therefore exogenous to household decisions though
they complement household capital endowments in ways that eventually influence welfare
outcomes.