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Lessons From Sao Paulos Metropolitan Busway Concessions Program
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Book Synopsis Lessons from São Paulo's Metropolitan Busway Concessions Program by : Jorge Mariano Rebelo
Download or read book Lessons from São Paulo's Metropolitan Busway Concessions Program written by Jorge Mariano Rebelo and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1997 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Concessions of Busways to the Private Sector by : Jorge Mariano Rebelo
Download or read book Concessions of Busways to the Private Sector written by Jorge Mariano Rebelo and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1995 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Moving Millions written by F. Moavenzadeh and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-03-25 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering a topic of massive contemporary importance, this well written volume demonstrates how transportation strategy and environmental sustainability can be pursued in a comprehensive and harmonious, rather than unconnected and potentially conflicting, set of public policies. It applies lessons from several urban areas (e.g., Bogota, Singapore, Mexico City, Sao Paulo), including "success stories" and less successful "hard-won lessons", to a case study in Guangzhou.
Book Synopsis Risk Reduction and Public Spending by : Shantayanan Devarajan
Download or read book Risk Reduction and Public Spending written by Shantayanan Devarajan and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: January 1998 Government spending on risk reduction could improve welfare in developing economies, either by alleviating a risk-market failure or by reducing uncertainty in otherwise distorted markets. As governments grow richer, the share of their GDP devoted to public spending rises. Public spending in the United States was 7.5 percent of GDP in 1913. It is 33 percent today. Although industrial countries spend twice as much as developing countries, government spending on goods and services is the same in both groups of countries. The difference is almost entirely due to transfer payments, which are about 22 percent of GDP in the industrial world. Most of these transfer payments-pensions, health insurance, unemployment insurance, guaranteed loans-are aimed at mitigating risk in the private sector. Devarajan and Hammer explore how the framework for evaluating government spending on goods and services can be extended to incorporate the government's various risk-reducing activities. They argue that there is a case for incorporating risk reduction into government spending, if doing so meets standard welfare-economics criteria for government intervention in the economy. Through examples-government-provided health insurance and crop insurance, price stabilization schemes, transfer programs for income support, public investments, publicly provided health care, and government credit guarantees-they show where government spending on risk reduction could improve welfare, either by alleviating a failure in risk markets or by reducing uncertainty in otherwise distorted markets. They illustrate calculations of the risk-reduction benefits of public spending and cite cases where their neglect could lead to serious underestimates. This paper-a product of Public Economics, Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to improve the allocation of public expenditures in developing countries. The authors may be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected].
Book Synopsis Health Policy in Poor Countries by : Deon Filmer
Download or read book Health Policy in Poor Countries written by Deon Filmer and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: January 1998 There is an apparent consensus that the correct health policy in developing countries is public provision of a mix of preventive and simple curative services through low level health workers and facilities. But the strength of this consensus on the primary health care paradigm is in sharp contrast to either the strength of its analytical foundations or its mixed record in practice. Filmer, Hammer, and Pritchett show how the recent empirical and theoretical literature on health policy sheds light on the disappointing experience with the implementation of primary health care. They emphasize the evidence on two weak links between government spending on health and improvements in health status. First, the capability of developing country governments to provide effective services varies widely-so health spending, even on the right services, may lead to little actual provision of services. Second, the net impact of government provision of health services depends on the severity of market failures. Evidence suggests these are the least severe for relatively inexpensive curative services, which often absorb the bulk of primary health care budgets. Government policy in health can more usefully focus directly on mitigating market failures in traditional public health activities and, in more developed settings, failures in the markets for risk mitigation. Addressing poverty requires consideration of a much broader set of policies which may-or may not-include provision of health services. This paper-a product of Poverty and Human Resources, Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to investigate efficacy in the social sectors. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project Primary Health Care: A Critical Examination (RPO 680-29). The authors may be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected].
Book Synopsis Industrial Pollution in Economic Development by : Hemamala Hettige
Download or read book Industrial Pollution in Economic Development written by Hemamala Hettige and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Interregional Resource Transfer and Economic Growth in Indonesia by : Toshihiko Kawagoe
Download or read book Interregional Resource Transfer and Economic Growth in Indonesia written by Toshihiko Kawagoe and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: February 1998 Rapid economic growth in Indonesia starting in the 1970s was fueled by market-based resource transfers, which helped modernize regional economies, creating the driving force for industrialization; and more welfare-oriented, government-based resource transfers, or development spending, which favored the poorer outer islands. In 1970, Indonesia was a poor agricultural state, with a per capita GNP of only US$80-the lowest among Asian economies and substantially lower than such African countries as Kenya and Ghana. Agriculture-with about 50 percent of GDP and 66 percent of the labor force- the dominant sector. In the 1970s, however, Indonesia showed rapid economic growth (5 percent a year). Softened world oil markets brought a slowdown in growth in the early 1980s, but growth recovered and per capita GNP in 1994 was US$880, comparable with the Philippines and substantially higher than many South Asian and African countries. Agriculture had only a 22 percent share of GDP; industry, 41 percent; and services, 42 percent. But Indonesia is enormously diverse and some parts of it did much better economically than others. As the country's economy grew, market-based resource transfers helped modernize regional economies, creating the driving force for industrialization. By contrast, government-based resource transfers, in the form of development spending, were more welfare-oriented, favoring the poorer outer islands (and did not contribute to industrialization). In other words, economic growth was sustained by two driving forces, government- and market-based transfers, which complemented each other. The oil boom was a bonanza, producing new fiscal revenue, a luxury only oil-exporting countries could enjoy. It is not always a ticket to successful industrialization, as the tragic experiences of such oil-exporting economies as Mexico show. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a Japanese research project on the political economy of rural development strategies.
Book Synopsis Searching for Sustainable Microfinance by : R. Marisol Ravicz
Download or read book Searching for Sustainable Microfinance written by R. Marisol Ravicz and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: February 1998 Lessons about the implementation of microfinance operations from five initiatives in rural Indonesia. Expanding the microfinance market can promote economic growth and reduce poverty in many countries. But expanding this market is advantageous only if the increased activity is sustainable. Ravicz draws lessons from five Indonesian microfinance initiatives in rural areas and proposes ways for governments and donors to support the microfinance sector. Those programs demonstrate that microfinance initiatives can provide a valuable service to low-income people at a temporary, affordable cost to governments or donors. Incentives for customers and staff are key features of successful microfinance operations that enable them to operate with low subsidies or on a self-sustaining basis. Programs should also charge adequate real interest rates, aggressively pursue repayment, and achieve a significant volume of business. To accelerate progress toward self-sustainability, programs can track the subsidies they receive, and their supporters can impose hard budget constraints and declining subvention support. Government-owned microfinance initiatives are vulnerable to political pressures that undermine their commitment to sound banking practices. Granting these institutions autonomous status, imposing hard budget constraints, and privatizing them when they are financially sustainable, can reduce their susceptibility to political influences. Alternatively, governments and donors could support the sector through temporary subsidies to private sector initiatives to help them defray start-up costs. Supervision can be improved if a country's microfinance industry, assisted by its central bank, establishes industrywide standards. Microfinance institutions could contract for supervision services from commercial banks. The central bank could monitor supervisors to ensure that they exercise due diligence. This study finds that institutions can efficiently reach clients in remote areas through subdistrict-based units and field staff. They need not rely on group lending techniques, savings requirements, or intermediary organizations between banks and borrowers to boost efficiency. Initiatives can serve female borrowers without targeted marketing if loan products meet women's needs and are accessible to them. Governments could increase the usefulness of microfinance to agriculture by encouraging state-owned microfinance institutions to develop and pilot-test loan products that meet smallholders' needs. This paper-a product of the Development Research Department-is part of a larger effort in the group to analyze the characteristics, performance, and poverty alleviation implications of microcredit institutions.
Book Synopsis The Asian Miracle and Modern Growth Theory by : Richard R. Nelson
Download or read book The Asian Miracle and Modern Growth Theory written by Richard R. Nelson and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: February 1998 The policy differences between accumulation and assimilation growth theories may be much smaller than the conceptual or analytic differences. Can the Asian miracle be explained in terms of capital investments? Or were entrepreneurship, innovation, and learning significant factors in the rapid growth of the Asian tigers? In the past 35 years, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan (China) have transformed themselves from technologically backwards and poor economies to relatively modern, affluent economies. Each has experienced more than a fourfold increase in per capita income. In each, a significant number of firms are producing technologically complex products competitive with firms in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Their growth performance has exceeded that of virtually all comparable economies. How they did it is a question of great importance. Virtually all theories about how they did it place investments in capital stock at the center of the explanation. Nelson and Pack divide most growth theories about the Asian miracle into two groups: * The accumulation theories stress the role of capital investments in moving these economies along their production functions. What lies behind rapid development, according to this type of theory, is very high investment rates. If a nation makes the investments, marshals the resources, development will follow. * The assimilation theories stress the entrepreneurship, innovation, and learning these economies went through before they could master the new technologies they were adopting from more advanced industrial nations. They see investment in human and physical capital as an essential but far from sufficient part of assimilation. In addition, people must learn about, take the risk of operating, and come to master technologies and other practices new to the country, if not the world. The emphasis for assimilation theorists is on innovation and learning, rather than on marshalling. If one marshals but does not innovate and learn, development does not follow. These are complex theories that raise as many questions as they answer. Nelson and Pack discuss differences in the way the two groups of theorists treat four matters: * Entrepreneurial decisionmaking. * The nature of technology. * The economic capabilities possible with a well-educated work force. * The role exports play in a country's rapid development. The differences between the theories matter because they affect our understanding of why the Asian miracle happened and because they imply different things about appropriate economic development policy. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to study the impact of public policy on growth.
Book Synopsis Relative Prices and Inflation in Poland, 1987-97 by :
Download or read book Relative Prices and Inflation in Poland, 1987-97 written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis How Integration Into the Central African Economic and Monetary Community Affects Cameroon's Economy by : Ferdinand Bakoup
Download or read book How Integration Into the Central African Economic and Monetary Community Affects Cameroon's Economy written by Ferdinand Bakoup and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: January 1998 Cameroon stands to gain economically from the new regional trade agreement among countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. Better access to partner markets and reduction of the external tariff explain virtually all of Cameroon's welfare gain. Bakoup and Tarr quantify the impact on Cameroon of three aspects of its new regional trade agreement with the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (the CEMAC agreement): * Improved access to markets in CEMAC. * Preferential tariff reduction. * Reduction of its external tariff through implementation of the common external tariff of CEMAC. They estimate that Cameroon will gain from the agreement but show how Cameroon's regional market power greatly affects the magnitude of its gains. They assume that Cameroon has regional market power in both imports and exports despite being small in world markets. They find that better access to partner markets and reduction of the external tariff explain virtually all of Cameroon's welfare gain. In their preferred scenario (Cameroon having regional market power), reduction of the external tariff explains three-quarters of the welfare gain. If Cameroon further reduces tariffs to its regional partners, the effect on its economy is a loss of real income but the impact is negligible. Should Cameroom's partners fail to provide tariff-free access to their markets, Bakoup and Tarr estimate that, given Cameroon's regional market power, Cameroon would gain even more from free trade than it would from implementing the CEMAC arrangements. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to investigate the implications of regional trade arrangements.
Book Synopsis What Improves Environmental Performance? by : Susmita Dasgupta
Download or read book What Improves Environmental Performance? written by Susmita Dasgupta and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Foreign Aid and Rent-seeking by : Jakob Svensson
Download or read book Foreign Aid and Rent-seeking written by Jakob Svensson and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: February 1998 Why has foreign aid had so seemingly poor a macroeconomic impact in many developing countries? Is there a relationship between concessional assistance, widespread corruption, and other types of rent-seeking? To address the relationship between concessional assistance, corruption, and other types of rent-seeking activities, the author provides a simple game-theoretic rent-seeking model. Insights with interesting implications emerge from the analysis: - An increase in government revenue (from windfalls, for example, or from increased foreign aid) does not necessarily lead to the provision of more public goods and in certain circumstances may reduce it. - The mere expectation of aid may suffice to increase rent-dissipation and reduce productive public spending. But if the donor community can enter into a binding policy commitment, this result may be reversed. The author provides some preliminary empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis that windfalls and foreign aid, in countries suffering from a divided policy process, are on average associated with more extensive corruption. He finds no evidence that donors systematically allocate aid to countries with less corruption. The results accords with recent empirical findings that aid is more effective, the greater the effort to direct it to good performers. But such a regime shift may involve an aid policy that in the short run provides more assistance to countries in less need and less aid to those in most need. Enforcing such a regime shift might be difficult. This paper--a product of the Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to study the effectiveness of foreign aid.
Book Synopsis Government Support to Private Infrastructure Projects in Emerging Markets by : Mansoor Dailami
Download or read book Government Support to Private Infrastructure Projects in Emerging Markets written by Mansoor Dailami and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: January 1998 For citizens to reap the full benefits of private investment in infrastructure, infrastructure prices must be high enough to cover costs, and private investors must assume commercial risk. Good macroeconomic policy matters because it affects the credibility of a price regime and especially the trust in currency convertibility essential for foreign investors. Driven by fiscal austerity and disenchantment with the performance of state-provided infrastructure services, many governments have turned to the private sector to build, operate, finance, or own infrastructure in power, gas, water, transport, and telecommunications sectors. Private capital flows to developing countries are increasing rapidly; 15 percent of infrastructure investment is now funded by private capital in emerging markets. But relative to needs, such private investment is progressing slowly. Governments are reluctant to raise consumer prices to cost-covering levels, while investors, mindful of experience, fear that governments may renege on promises to maintain adequate prices over the long haul. So investors ask for government support in the form of grants, preferential tax treatment, debt or equity contributions, or guarantees. These subsidies differ in how they allocate risk between private investors and government. Efficiency gains are greatest when private parties assume the risks that they can manage better than the public sector. When governments establish good policies-especially cost-covering prices and credible commitments to stick to them-investors are willing to invest without special government support. Privatizing assets without government guarantees or other financial support is possible, even where governments are politically unable to raise prices, because investors can achieve the returns they demand by discounting the value of the assets they are purchasing. But this is not possible for new investments (greenfield projects). If prices have been set too low and the government is not willing to raise them, it must give the investor financial support, such as guarantees and other forms of subsidy, to facilitate worthwhile projects that would not otherwise proceed. But guarantees shift costs from consumers to taxpayers, who subsidize users of infrastructure services. Much of that subsidy is hidden, since the government does not record the guarantee in its fiscal accounts. And taxpayers provide unremunerated credit insurance, as the government borrows based on its ability to tax citizens if the project fails, not on the strength of the project itself. This paper-a joint product of the Regulatory Reform and Private Enterprise Division, Economic Development Institute, and the Private Participation in Infrastructure Group-was presented at the conference Managing Government Exposure to Private Infrastructure Projects: Averting a New-Style Debt Crisis, held in Cartagena, Colombia, May 29030, 1997. Mansoor Dailami may be contacted at [email protected].
Download or read book Circumstance and Choice written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1997 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sri-Ram Aiyer written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Westpreußen-jahrbuch written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
