Publication: Better Household Surveys for Better Design of Infrastructure Subsidies

Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (292.94 KB)
157 downloads

English Text (15.47 KB)
36 downloads
Date
2000-06
ISSN
Published
2000-06
Author(s)
Gómez-Lobo, Andrés
Halpern, Jonathan
Abstract
Reform of the water, electricity, and telecommunications sectors is gathering momentum in nearly all developing countries. Reform should include an assessment of whether subsidies are necessary and if so, how to design subsidies that reach their intended beneficiaries accurately and do not distort the market. A major challenge for reforming governments is to build the capability to do this fast enough for subsidy redesign to be incorporated in sector reform. Clearly, it would save time to use existing sources of information. Potentially, one of the most useful sources is the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey. However, the LSMS questionnaires do not generate all the information needed for subsidy design. Fortunately, with a few simple and inexpensive changes, these surveys could be made much more useful for the design of subsidies and for devising policies that would give the poor better access to infrastructure services.
Citation
Gómez-Lobo, Andrés; Foster, Vivien; Halpern, Jonathan. 2000. Better Household Surveys for Better Design of Infrastructure Subsidies. Viewpoint. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/065273ea-ecdb-5cee-9f6c-9dc50797b511 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Report Series
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
  • Publication
    Investment Climate in Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07-01) Bridgman, David ; Adamali, Aref
    The World Bank Group has been working on investment climate reform in Sub-Saharan Africa for nearly a decade, a period characterized by dramatic economic growth on the continent. Establishing links between such reform interventions and economic growth, however, is a complex problem. Although this note finds some connection between investment climate reform and economic growth, establishing more concrete evidence of causation will require greater focus at the country level, as well as on small and medium enterprises. This is where investment climate interventions generate change.
  • Publication
    Export Competitiveness: Why Domestic Market Competition Matters
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Goodwin, Tanja ; Pierola, Martha Denisse
    This review of the empirical literature shows that industries with more intense domestic competition will export more. Competition law enforcement can be traced to export performance and is complementary to trade reforms. Pro-competition market regulation that reduces restrictions and promotes competition, where it is viable, is an important determinant for trade. The elimination of barriers to entry and rivalry, and a level playing field in upstream sectors contributes to export competitiveness in downstream manufacturing sectors. In some sectors, effective competition policy can directly lower trade costs.
  • Publication
    Primary Care for the Poor: The Potential of Micro-Health Markets to Improve Care
    ( 2015-01) Coarasa, Jorge ; Das, Jishnu
    Much of the primary curative care provided to the poor by the private sector occurs not at large hospitals but at small, single-person clinics. While such micro-health providers increase access, questions persist about quality. Some have argued that the micro-health sector needs to be better regulated. This note cites recent studies in arguing that the micro-health sector needs to be better understood. A more evidence based approach may enable the World Bank Group to better target investments and interventions and help these providers fulfill an important role serving the poor. The following recommendations are made at the conclusion of this paper: (1) Effort, rather than hardware or training, may count the most. (2) Scaling up interventions to improve quality requires understanding and addressing market failures. (3) Changing the way impacts are measured will lead to smarter investments.
  • Publication
    Small Business Tax Regimes
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-02) Coolidge, Jacqueline ; Yilmaz, Fatih
    Simplified tax regimes for micro and small enterprises in developing countries are intended to facilitate voluntary tax compliance. However, survey evidence suggests that small business taxation based on simplified bookkeeping or turnover is sometimes perceived as too complex for microenterprises in countries with high illiteracy levels. Very simple fixed tax regimes not requiring any books or records tend to be overly popular but prone to abuse. System reforms will require more precise tailoring of the simplified regimes to their target beneficiaries, coupled with strong compliance management to detect and deter abuse. The overall objective of simplified taxation for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in developing countries is generally to facilitate voluntary tax compliance and remove obstacles in moving toward business formalization and growth.
  • Publication
    Competition and Poverty
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) Begazo, Tania ; Nyman, Sara
    A literature review shows competition policy reforms can deliver benefits for the poorest households and improve income distribution. A lack of competition in food markets hurts the poorest households the most. Competition in input markets and between buyers helps farmers and small businesses. And more competitive markets bolster job growth over the longer term. More research is needed, however, to better understand the impact of competition reforms and antitrust enforcement on poverty and shared prosperity.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Associated URLs
Associated content
Citations