Person:
Carruthers, Robin Christopher
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Trade,
Transport Economics
Degrees
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Robin Carruthers has a first degree in economics and political institutions, a master’s degree in statistics and is a member of the Chartered institute of Transport and Logistics. Following two decades as transport consultant in Europe, Australia and South America he joined the World Bank, where until his retirement in 2003 he was a Lead Transport Economist. After a period of managing transport and logistics related projects and studies in each of its six regions, he supervised its worldwide transport economics activities. This included the development of new methods of assessing the economic and social impacts of projects and changes in transport and trade facilitation policies. Since then he has been an independent consultant to the United Nations, the World Bank, all the regional development banks, other development agencies and private companies active in developing countries. Among recent consulting tasks he has advised the United Nations on innovative financing of transport infrastructure and logistics strategies for land-locked developing countries, the International Maritime Organization on electronic maritime highways, the African Development Bank on its transport strategy and the Inter-American Development Bank on freight logistics, maritime transport and trade facilitation in the Caribbean region.
Publication Search Results
1 - 6 of 6
-
Publication
Trends in Trade and Logistics : An East Asian Perspective
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-06)There are five sections in this report. The first section analysis growth, poverty reduction, trade and logistics. The study indicates that a stimulus in economic growth tends to reduce poverty. Section two analysis global trends in transport and logistics that determine the competitive advantage and growth performance of trading in global economy. Transport and logistics have benefited from technological and institutional changes, and has developed the maritime transport, warehousing facilities, and communication. The net result has been to facilitate globalization. Section three analysis trade led growth in East Asia. The sustained growth performance is usually attributed to the region's global integration. Section four: Logistics in East Asia - the single most important impact of globalization in East Asian countries has been the integration of local production and supply. Section five - a strategy to stimulate trade-led poverty reduction. This analysis has demonstrated the significance of the role of trade in accelerating economic growth and reducing poverty. In addition, the trade pattern of the region is focused in terms of final market destination. -
Publication
Affordability of Public Transport in Developing Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-01)The analysis reported here was prompted by a realization that there was little reliable and consistent information on what proportion of household income is spent on urban public transport. The information available uses inconsistent definitions of what costs are included and how income is measured, making comparisons between cities difficult. The authors report here on about a dozen studies that have addressed the issue of affordability. Though different measures are used in different countries, making it difficult to compare the results between cities, from the studies in South America, South Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, East Asia and Australasia summarized here, the authors make clear that the affordability of urban transport is considered an issue of importance throughout the developing world. There is also evidence that the high cost of urban transport is having a negative impact on the lives of the urban poor - either through restricting their access to jobs that are within feasible walking or cycling distance, by consuming an unsustainable proportion of their income, or by dramatically curtailing the number of journeys that they make. The problem is possibly most grave in Africa, the continent for which there is the least documentation. To address the need for easily available and comprehensive comparative information on affordability of public transport fares, the authors developed an Affordability Index to be used as a first indication of the affordability of fares in a particular city. The second half of this report describes the construction of this Affordability Index and then describes the results from applying this Index to 27 cities. -
Publication
Trade and Logistics in East Asia : A Development Agenda
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-06)This report is part of a strategy to promotes trade competitiveness within the East Asia and Pacific Region. It presents an overview of the logistics issues facing East Asia countries and proposes a development agenda for them. Based on the recognition that the countries have basic differences in their level of development, extent of openness, and composition of trade, it begins by discussing the benefits of improved logistics. The East Asian countries are organized into an action matrix, with an analysis of the logistics needs appropriate to each group. The country working papers (volumes 2, 3, & 5)discuss the assessment of preset logistics services and the impediments they impose upon, and opportunities they offer for, expanded trade, including policy reform proposals. The special report on ports (volume 4) addresses port development in relation to urban growth. -
Publication
Connecting Landlocked Developing Countries to Markets : Trade Corridors in the 21st Century
(World Bank, 2011-03-24)The importance of transport corridors for trade and development, including for some of the poorest countries in the world, is widely recognized in this book. A new consensus has also emerged that reducing trade costs and improving access to corridors is not just a matter of building infrastructure. The policies that regulate transport services providers and the movement of goods along corridors are important determinants of the social rate of return on such infrastructure investment. This book avoids optimistic assumptions regarding the prospects for new high-level agreements and decisions to facilitate transit or the possible benefits from increased use of technology. Instead, the authors argue that much can be done through the implementation of readily available existing tools. The use of these tools is often hampered by not only capacity constraints; but, equally if not more important, a lack of commitment. Political economic factors in both the landlocked countries and their transit neighbors must be recognized and addressed. This book offers examples of possible implementation strategies that, while challenging, should in principle help in overcoming these political economic constraints. The main message is that to bring about efficient trade corridors governments and stakeholders should focus on properly implementing the fiscal, regulatory, and procedural principles for international transit that encourage quality-driven logistics services. The various implementation challenges are the primary focus of this book. -
Publication
Maritime Networks, Port Efficiency, and Hinterland Connectivity in the Mediterranean
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019)For millennia, the Mediterranean has been one of the most active trading areas, supported by a transport network connecting riparian cities and beyond to their hinterland. The Mediterranean has complex trade patterns and routes--but with key differences from the past. It is no longer an isolated world economy: it is both a trading area and a transit area linking Europe and North Africa with the rest of the world through the hub-and-spoke structure of maritime networks. Understanding how trade connectivity works in the Mediterranean, and elsewhere, is important to policy makers, especially those in developing countries in the Mediterranean, concerned with the economic benefits of large investment in infrastructure. Better connectivity is expected to increase trade with distant markets and stimulate activities in the hinterland. This book is a practical exploration of the three interdependent dimensions of trade connectivity: maritime networks, port efficiency, and hinterland connectivity. Because of the complexity and richness of maritime and trade patterns in the Mediterranean, the research book combines both a regional focus and globally scalable lessons. This book is intended for a wide readership of policy makers in maritime affairs, trade, or industry; professionals from the world of finance or development institutions; and academics. It combines empirical analysis of microeconomic shipping and port data with three case studies of choice of port (focusing on Spain, Egypt, and Morocco) and five case studies on hinterland development (Barcelona; Malta; Marseilles; Port Said East, Egypt; and Tanger Med, Morocco). -
Publication
Trade and Transport Corridor Management Toolkit
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-05-07)Trade and transport corridors—major routes that facilitate the movement of people and goods between regions and between countries—have existed for millennia. They enable regions and countries to offer high-capacity transport systems and services that reduce trade and transport costs by creating economies of scale. Regional corridors are particularly important to landlocked countries, often providing the only overland routes to regional and international markets. Despite a long and complex history, guidance is often lacking on how to design, determine the components to include, and analyze the impact of corridor projects. The Trade and Transport Corridor Management Toolkit fills this void. The Toolkit synthesizes the experiences of the World Bank and other development agencies in assessing, designing, implementing, and evaluating the impact of trade and transport corridor projects. It saves project developers the task of looking for the best available tools and ensures greater consistency to facilitate comparison and benchmarking. The Toolkit will also be of immense value to policy makers in provincial and national governments as well as regional economic institutions, for several reasons: • Corridors affect the space economy of countries; they are best developed with clear estimates of the spatial impacts that can be expected. • A corridor system has multiple components, including infrastructure (roads, railways, ports), transport and logistics services, and regulations; it is important to appreciate the linkages between them, particularly as the overall performance of a corridor is determined by the weakest component. • Many parties with varying interests and motivations have a stake in corridor development. The Toolkit argues for their full participation in corridor development processes and operations. The best functioning modern corridors in the world did not happen by accident; they are often the results of coordinated development and cooperation over many years. The general principles outlined in this Toolkit should help project teams, government officials, logistics service providers, and the trade community to better appreciate both the importance of good corridor project design and the challenges of, and possibilities from, improving corridor performance.