03. Journals

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2210

These are journal articles published in World Bank journals as well as externally by World Bank authors.

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Handshake, No. 11 (October 2013)

(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2013-10) International Finance Corporation

This issue includes the following headings: donors: aid versus trade; investment: seeking strong partners; power: hydro heats up; water: sanitation solutions; and first person: African Development Bank President
To Mitigate or to Adapt : Is that the Question? Observations on an Appropriate Response to the Climate Change Challenge to Development Strategies

(World Bank, 2010-08-02) Shalizi, Zmarak ; Lecocq, Franck

Climate change is a new and important challenge to development strategies. In light of the current literature a framework for assessing responses to this challenge is provided. The presence of climate change makes it necessary to at least review development strategies—even in apparently nonclimate-sensitive and nonpolluting sectors. There is a need for an integrated portfolio of actions ranging from avoiding emissions (mitigation) to coping with impacts (adaptation) and to consciously accepting residual damages. Proactive (ex ante) adaptation is critical, but subject to risks of regrets when the magnitude or location of damages is uncertain. Uncertainty on location favors nonsite-specific actions, or reactive (ex post) adaptation. However, some irreversible losses cannot be compensated for. Thus, mitigation might be in many cases the cheapest long-term solution to climate change problems and the most important to avoid thresholds that may trigger truly catastrophic consequences. To limit the risks that budget constraints prevent developing countries from financing reactive adaptation—especially since climate shocks might erode the fiscal base—“rainy-day funds” may have to be developed within countries and at the global level for transfer purposes. Finally, more research is required on the impacts of climate change, on modeling the interrelations between mitigation and adaptation, and on operationalizing the framework.
Design Thinking for Social Innovation

( 2010-07) Brown, Tim ; Wyatt, Jocelyn

Designers have traditionally focused on enchancing the look and functionality of products.
Mobile Technology : One Core Lesson, Many Possible Solutions

( 2010-07) Quadir, Iqbal Z.

Over half of people in poor countries, including a quarter of those over the age of 14 in Afghanistan, use mobile phones.
Putting Nairobi's Slums on the Map

( 2010-07) Hagen, Erica

The streets of Kibera, one of the largets slums in Africa, are narrowly winding pathways strewn with garbage, divided down the middle by streams of sewage and waste that make walking treacherous.
Road Network Upgrading and Overland Trade Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa

( 2010) Buys, Piet ; Deichmann, Uwe ; Wheeler, David

Recent research suggests that poor economic integration and isolation from regional and international markets have contributed significantly to poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poor transport infrastructure and border restrictions are major deterrents to trade expansion which would stimulate economic growth and poverty reduction. Using spatial network analysis techniques and gravity trade model estimations, this paper quantifies the economics of upgrading a primary road network that connects the major urban areas in the region. The results indicate that continental network upgrading is worth serious consideration from an economic perspective. Our simulations suggest that overland trade among Sub-Saharan African countries might expand by about $250 billion over 15 years, with major direct and indirect benefits for the rural poor. Financing the programme would require about $20 billion for initial upgrading and $1 billion annually for maintenance.
Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

( 2010) Calderon, Cesar ; Serven, Luis

An adequate supply of infrastructure services has long been viewed by both academics and policy makers as a key ingredient for economic development. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks consistently at the bottom of all developing regions in terms of infrastructure performance, and an increasing number of observers point to deficient infrastructure as a major obstacle for growth and poverty reduction across the region. This paper offers an empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure development on growth and inequality, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper uses a comparative cross-regional perspective to place Africa's experience in the international context. Drawing from an updated data set of infrastructure quantity and quality indicators covering more than 100 countries and spanning the years 1960-2005, the paper estimates empirical growth and inequality equations including a standard set of control variables augmented by infrastructure quantity and quality measures, and controlling for the potential endogeneity of the latter. The estimates illustrate the potential contribution of infrastructure development to growth and equity across Africa.
Building Capacity to Move Past Conflict and Fragility

(World Bank, 2009-10-01) Pradhan, Sanjay

Capacity building should be an integral part of a country’s national development plan, not an add-on.
Partnering for Progress

(World Bank, 2009-02-01) Nelson, Mark ; Tejasvi, Ajay

Much technical assistance aimed at building capacity has failed to deliver the results sought. The article examines the causes and the possible solutions.
Electricity Reforms in Mali : A Macro-Micro Analysis of the Effects on Poverty and Distribution

( 2009) Boccanfuso, Dorothee ; Estache, Antonio ; Savard, Luc

This paper uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) micro-simulation model to explore the distributional and poverty-related effects of price reform in the electricity sector of Mali, a poor country in West Africa. In the first part of the paper we analyse the distribution of electricity in Mali by income deciles, showing that few poor households are connected to the electricity grid. We then apply a sequential CGE micro-simulation model to track the transmission mechanisms between increases in electricity prices and changes in poverty and inequality among different household groups. Our results show that direct price increases have a minimal effect on poverty and inequality, whereas the general equilibrium effects of such increases are quite strong and negative. The compensating policies we tested do not help those who lose from the pricing reform. In fact they amplify the negative effects.