Background: There has been considerable decline in the investment on road transport infrastructure in recent times, as a result of the dwindling economic investment owing to lowering gross domestic product (GDP) since 2009. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between road transport investment (ROTI) and economic development (ED) in South Africa. This article adopts the Harrod–Domar (HD) model of economic growth and development theory, endogenous growth theory and Solow–Swan neoclassical growth model. Method: Data were derived from the South African Reserve Bank, Quantec database and Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) between 1990 and 2014. It used time series, econometric models cointegration and vector error correction model (VECM) to analyse. Result: The results of the estimation demonstrate that the explanatory variables account for approximately 86.7% variation in ED in South Africa. Therefore, there exists a positive relationship between ROTI and ED. Conclusion: This study established a long-run relationship between phenomena and demonstrates the role of road transport investment on economic development in South Africa.

中文翻译：

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评估公路运输基础设施投资对南非经济发展的影响

背景：由于自2009年以来国内生产总值（GDP）下降而导致的经济投资减少，因此近来道路运输基础设施的投资已大幅下降。目标：本研究的目的是研究这种关系在南非的公路运输投资（ROTI）和经济发展（ED）之间。本文采用了经济增长与发展的哈罗德-多玛（HD）模型，内生增长理论和索洛-天鹅新古典增长模型。方法：数据来自1990年至2014年的南非储备银行，Quantec数据库和南非统计局（StatsSA）。该数据使用时间序列，计量经济学模型协整和矢量误差校正模型（VECM）进行分析。结果：估计结果表明，解释变量占南非ED的大约86.7％。因此，ROTI和ED之间存在正相关关系。结论：这项研究建立了现象之间的长期关系，并证明了公路运输投资对南非经济发展的作用。