ABSTRACT
Imagine a Ghanaian farmer — we shall call him Kweku Owiredu — situated 100 kilometers from the major commercial center of Kumasi. He must acquire the bulk of his necessary agricultural inputs in Kumasi, and this is the only market for the wonderful restaurant-grade vegetables he produces and hopes to sell. Unfortunately, his farm is a “world away” from the bustle of Kumasi. The road over this modest stretch is often in bad condition — particularly during the rainy season. In addition, he can count on being stopped along the route two or three times by police looking for unlicenced vehicles and drivers, by highway offi cials looking for overweight trucks, and by forestry offi cials checking for evidence of illegal logging. Each stop may take as little as three to fi ve minutes, but it can also take 30-45 minutes depending on traffi c and the “mood” of those doing the checking. Kweku Owiredu will be required to offer a variety of exactions at each stop depending on the time of day (exactions are higher at night), what he is hauling, and other factors over which he has no control. His vegetables suffer in the heat and it is not unusual that 25 percent of his harvest will be damaged by the time he manages to arrive in Kumasi. It requires little imagination to understand that this story applies to virtually all transport corridors in sub-Saharan Africa — as well as in many developing countries (Bromley and Foltz 2011 ; Shleifer and Vishny 1993 ; Olken and Barron 2009 ).
