Socioeconomic implications of infrastructure development: Exploring the impacts of water infrastructure through stakeholders’ perceptions

Infrastructure projects create socioeconomic disturbance and negatively affect the living standards of local people. To probe the socio-economic impacts of big infrastructures, this article considers the construction of the Diamer Bhasha Dam project in Pakistan. This study mainly relied on primary sources of data and used the logit regression model to quantify the probability of impacts of selected factors on the living standards of the affected population. We found several socioeconomic factors and financial aspect significantly impacting the living standard of locals. Main factors include less compensation payment, delay in payment, lack of business investment skills and employment opportunities, withholding information from the local population, and corruption. The results reveal that the odds of poor living standards of the affected people are much higher – 14.4 times due to delay in compensation payment and 10 times more due to less compensation. Lack of business investment skills and the negative impact of the project on employment opportunities lower the living standard of local people 10 times and 6 times respectively. Further, withholding information from locals declines the living standard of local people 3 times, and corruption in project activities negatively affects the living standard 1 time. The study also provides policy measures and recommendations for improved living standards.