Other Infrastructure Study

338 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2204

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Sustainable Development of Inland Waterways Transport in Vietnam: Strengthening the Regulatory, Institutional and Funding Frameworks

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

Vietnam has a long history of using its rivers and canals for transportation of goods and people. Today, Vietnam’s waterways transport about 17 percent of all domestic goods tonage loaded in Vietnam and perform nearly 19 percent of all traffic tasks, a measure which combines both tonnes loaded and distance carried. These are very high levels by international standards, and Vietnam’s national freight task proportion is more than double that for China, the United States, and the European Union where inland waterways are also prevalent. Right after its integration into the international economic community in the late 1980s, Vietnam listed the development of inland waterways transport as one of its priorities to boost economic growth. Overcoming financing constraints, the country has made enormous strides in developing its inland waterways transport by efficiently exploiting the natural conditions of its rivers and canals. However, exploiting only the natural conditions of Vietnam’s inland waterways could diminish the country’s competitive advantage over time. In order to bring the waterways’ great potential into reality, further investment is required in the institutional structure, in strengthening the legal and regulatory framework, and in improvement of the funding framework for the sector. This report provides a comprehensive review and assessment of the challenges that the sector faces, along with a reform program recommended to the government of Vietnam that could help improve the enabling environment for the inland waterways transport industry and further its growth and technical sophistication.
Georgia Economic Impact of East-West Highway Phase 2: Assessing the Impact of East-West Highway Investments on Exports through Gravity Modeling

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-06-27) World Bank

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the East-West Highway improvement program on Georgia’s ability to access international markets. As highlighted extensively in the literature, improving transport infrastructure and the efficiency of the logistics sector can help countries gain competitiveness in international export markets, which can translate into faster economic growth and higher income. This study hypothesizes that investments in the EWH have reduced the cost of shipping Georgian goods to the rest of the world, and such reductions should be more significant for goods transported by road. To estimate the effect of cost reductions generated by improvements in the EWH, a gravity-type model in first-differences has been estimated. The results show that: (i) a 10 percent increase in the length of upgraded road network predicts a 1.1 percent increase in exports transported by road while no significant effect is estimated for exports on other transport modes (rail, sea, and air); (ii) the resulting increase in exports by road was reflected by a decrease in exports transported by sea; (iii) the effect is statistically and economically significant only for customs offices located along the EWH; (iv) only exports of time-sensitive products responded positively and significantly to improvements in the EWH during the 2006-2015 period; (v) upgrading the entire EWH is estimated to generate additional export revenues between USD 776 million and USD 1,466 million. It is important to note that the overall trade generating effect of the investment is expected to be somewhat lower as the results suggest some substitution between road and sea transport, but the overall impact is a significant boost to exports.
Support to Rural Sanitation Scale Up Under the Philippine National Sustainable Sanitation Plan

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05) World Bank

This report summarizes the results and lessons learned from the Technical Assistance (TA) Support to Rural Sanitation Scale Up under the Philippine National Sustainable Sanitation Plan. The TA was carried out by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program from July 2012 to March 2016, and is part of a larger programmatic assistance by the Bank to the Government of the Philippines in framing relevant institutional and financial reforms by key sector agencies and in strengthening the government’s capacity to accelerate delivery of basic water and sanitation services particularly to the poor. This synthesis report provides recommendations to consolidate and accelerate the scaling up rural sanitation initiative focusing on priorities for World Bank engagement and alignment with the incoming government’s overall strategic direction.
Regional Economic Impact Analysis of High Speed Rail in China : Main Report

(Washington, DC, 2014-06-25) World Bank

This report reflects a two-stage work flow designed to fulfill the research objectives: stage one defined the methodology, and stages two tested this methodology and transferred the know-how to the China Railway Corporation and its consultants through case studies. Chapter two summarizes the theoretical framework within which regional economic impacts are discussed and quantified. Chapter three reviews current regional economic impact analyses in China. Chapter four summarizes the approach to practical regional impact assessment in other countries and reviews the relevance of the main methods in the Chinese context. Chapter five summarizes the work that has been carried out by the World Bank to date in estimating regional impacts in China. Chapter six develops a practical approach to quantifying the regional economic impacts of future HSR in China, including methods for data collection, surveys and interviews. Chapter seven presents the implementation of the methodology in the case studies and the interpretation of quantified model results. Chapter eight summarizes the conclusions and the recommendations for further work. In addition, appendices one to three provide further details about existing assessment studies and methodologies. Appendices four and five show the interview and survey forms. A separate report provides a step-by-step how-to guide for a regional economic impact assessment using a four zone generic example model, which as a simple numerical example complements the presentation of the case study applications on Changchun-Jilin HSR and the northern part of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR.
Growth Poles Program : Political Economy of Social Capital

(Washington, DC, 2014-04) World Bank

The Government of Sierra Leone (GosL) and the World Bank (WB) have agreed upon the design and implementation of a growth poles program (GPP) in support of the agenda for prosperity (A4P), the GoSL's third poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSPIII). With support from the European Union competitive industries and innovation practice trust fund, the WB has been undertaking a series of scoping and diagnostic analyses on the GPP since early 2013, and to date this work has constituted the main part of the first phase of the approach (the initial diagnostic stage). This diagnostic work was completed in August 2013 and the diagnostic report confirmed that the growth pole approach can feasibly support and facilitate economic development in two geographical areas of the country. This analytical report attempts to provide a window into the undercurrents and the nuances that affect and shape the characteristics of host communities into which investment takes place. The report also highlights the various input considerations that need to be acknowledged (land, labor, community relations), the governance framework into which the future growth poles approach will fit - central, local, and community and finally concludes with a series of recommendations around key policy, institutional, cross linkages, and contextual challenges that the growth poles approach must consider as it attempts to underpin the government's growth by foreign direct investment agenda.
Philippines Conditional Cash Transfer Program : Impact Evaluation 2012

(Washington, DC, 2013-11) World Bank

The specific objectives of the program are to: a) keep children in school, b) keep children healthy, and c) invest in the future of children. It reflects the Government's commitment to promoting inclusive growth by investing in human capital to improve education and health outcomes for poor children and pregnant women. The program is based on the premise that poverty is not about income alone but is multi-dimensional, and factors such as access to basic social services and social environments matter. This report presents the findings from an analysis that assessed program impact by comparing outcomes in areas that received Pantawid Pamilya with outcomes in areas that did not receive the program. The impact evaluation applied two analytical methods: 1) Randomized Control Trial (RCT), which compared randomly assigned program areas and non-program areas to assess program impact, and 2) regression discontinuity design, which compared the outcomes of poor households who received the program with similar poor households just above the poverty line. This report presents the findings from the RCT component only. It should be noted that although 2.5 years of program implementation is generally considered enough time to observe impacts on short-term outcomes, it is not long enough to assess impacts on long-term outcome measures. The program is also achieving its objective of enabling poor households to increase their investments in meeting the health and education needs of their children. Although the study found that the cash grants were reaching beneficiaries, the study did not find an overall increase in per capita consumption among the poor benefiting from the program, although there was some evidence that poor households are saving more in certain provinces.
Regional Impacts of High Speed Rail in China : Spatial Proximity and Productivity in an Emerging Economy

(World Bank, Beijing, 2013-06-30) Jin, Ying ; Bullock, Richard ; Fang, Wanli

This paper contains an initial reconnaissance of the situation in Yunfu, prior to the NanGuang project construction. It provides a brief overview of the trajectory of economic development in Yunfu from an economy that was dominated by primary industries to that by secondary industries. The development of local transport infrastructure is reviewed, as is the more detailed structure of local industries, with special emphasis on dominant industrial sectors and the planned industrial parks. The experience of high speed rail development impact elsewhere was drawn upon to reflect on the possible regional economic outcomes that might emerge following the opening of the Nanning-Guangzhou high speed rail. The structure of and the approach to a before and after monitoring study is considered. The remainder of the paper is divided into six parts. Part two gives a brief overview of the economic development in Yunfu municipality since its establishment in 1994. Part three describes local transport links and infrastructure. Part four provides a description of the internal structure of local industries, with special emphasis on the dominant industrial sectors and the planned industrial parks. Part five discusses possible regional economic impacts associated with the forthcoming high-speed rail line and part six summarizes a proposal for the next steps.
Turkey : Managing Labor Markets through the Economic Cycle

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-03-15) World Bank ; Ministry of Development, Republic of Turkey

The Turkish economy was hit hard by the global economic crisis, but recovered fast and strong. The economy had already started to slow down in 2007, but the global financial events of late 2008 led to a sharp contraction starting in the last quarter of 2008 until growth resumed in the last quarter of 2009. The recovery was rapid, with growth reaching 9 percent in 2010 and 8.5 percent in 2011. This study looks at how the labor market fared during the recent downturn and recovery and informs policies to manage labor markets through the economic cycle and address the jobs challenge in Turkey. The study investigates: 1) pre-crisis labor market trends and the structural jobs challenge in Turkey; 2) aggregate and distributional impacts of the recent crisis, and subsequent recovery, on the labor market; and 3) recent policy measures and existing labor market institutions in the context of observed labor market outcomes. Finally, the study links policies to manage labor markets through the cycle with measures to address the longer term, structural jobs challenge in Turkey. Ongoing structural transformations and the large 'stock' of low-skilled workers are behind the jobs challenge in Turkey. Continued urbanization and labor shedding in agriculture, along with the increase in the Working Age Population (WAP), will continue to increase the number of (mostly) young and low-skilled workers looking for non-agricultural jobs. The Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) plays a key role in activating low-skilled workers into productive employment. ISKUR has come a long way since 2008, increasing the coverage and quality of vocational training, introducing job and vocational counselors and linking social assistance receipts to registration in ISKUR.
Mongolia : Improving Public Investments to Meet the Challenge of Scaling Up Infrastructure

(Washington, DC, 2013-01) World Bank

The objective of this report is to analyze in depth the current public investment management system and to assess whether or not it is able to meet this challenge of delivering good quality projects in the priority areas in a macro-economically sustainable manner; and to recommend what needs to be done to improve the system so that it is able to effectively transform natural resource revenues into sustainable capital assets. In making its recommendations, this report focuses on some of the details that need to be laid out in implementing regulations in order to make the Fiscal Stability Law (FSL), Budget Law of Mongolia (IBL), and Public Procurement Law of Mongolia (PPLM) work. The report also suggests amendments to some of the existing laws that pose a risk to meeting the four objectives. In proposing policy options, the report is conscious of the political economy of reform and, wherever possible, analyzes the compatibility of the technical solutions with the political interests of policy-makers.
Zambia Wildlife Sector Policy : Situation Analysis and Recommendations for a Future Policy

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05) Sichilongo, Mwape ; Mulozi, Pamela ; Mbewe, Biston ; Machala, Chomba ; Pavy, Jean-Michel

Zambia is endowed with an abundance of natural resources that include, water, forests and wildlife. The country's wildlife resources are managed through government-supported National Parks and Game Management Areas (GMAs) and private sector game ranches. The main objective of this wildlife sector policy review is to consolidate the findings collected from an extensive bibliography published during the life of the current policy, and the analysis of key sector practitioners. The second objective is to analyze these findings with a view to formulating broad recommendations to inform the design of the new vision and new policy of the sector. This document aims to identify policy issues that would provide a basis for the creation of an enabling environment for the development of the wildlife sector as a growth sector according to the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP) and the vision 2030. It contains five provisional priority recommendations that offer practical solutions and six strategic options which constitute policy objectives. In conclusion, an improvement of the policy framework could have a large impact on how people and wildlife relate and coexist in Zambia. This policy review confirmed that, while important policy measures are necessary, particularly for shared growth, the adoption of a forward looking wildlife policy and act will not be sufficient if it is not accompanied by unequivocal willingness on the part of Government to reorganize and strengthen Zambia Wildlife Authority's (ZAWA's) capacity and provide financing commensurate to its need.