Gonzalez, Julio A.Guasch, Jose LuisSerebrisky, Tomas2012-05-292012-05-292008-03https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6566Access to basic infrastructure services - roads, electricity, water, sanitation - and the efficient provision of the services, is a key challenge in the fight against poverty. Many of the poor (and particularly the extreme poor) in rural communities in Latin America live on average 5 kilometers or more from the nearest paved road, which is almost twice as far as non-poor rural households. There have been major improvements in access to water, sanitation, electricity, telecommunications, ports, and airports, but road coverage has not changed much, although some effort and resources have been invested to improve the quality of road networks. This paper focuses on the main determinants of logistics costs and physical access to services and, whenever possible, provides evidence of the effects of these determinants on competitiveness, growth, and poverty in Latin American economies. The analysis shows the impact of improving infrastructure and logistics costs on three fronts - macro (growth), micro (productivity at the firm level), and poverty (the earnings of poor/rural people). In addition, the paper provides recommendations and solutions that encompass a series of policies to reduce the prevalent high logistics costs and limited access to services in Latin America. The recommendations rely on applied economic analysis on logistics and trade facilitation.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO SERVICESACCOUNTINGACTUAL COSTSAD VALOREMADMINISTRATIVE COSTSAGGREGATE DEMANDAGGREGATE INVENTORYAGRICULTUREAIMAIRAIR TRANSPORTAIRPORTSBENCHMARKSBEST PRACTICEBILATERAL TRADEBORDER CROSSINGBORDER CROSSINGSBOTTLENECKSBRIDGEBUSINESS INDICATORSBUSINESS LOGISTICSBUSINESSESCAPACITY BUILDINGCARGOCELLULAR PHONESCHAMBERS OF COMMERCECOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURECOMPETITIVENESSCONGESTIONCONNECTIVITYCONSUMERSCOST -BENEFIT ANALYSISCOST OF CAPITALCOST-BENEFIT ANALYSISCUSTOMCUSTOMSDAYS OF INVENTORYDEREGULATIONDEVALUATIONDISCOUNT RATEDISTRIBUTION CENTERSE-BUSINESSE-MAILECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ANALYSISELASTICITYELECTRICITYEMPLOYMENTENDOGENOUS VARIABLESEXOGENOUS VARIABLESEXPORT DEVELOPMENTEXPORT GROWTHEXPORTSFINANCIAL BENEFITSFINANCING OF INFRASTRUCTUREFLOW OF GOODSFLOW OF INFORMATIONFOREIGN TRADEFREE TRADEFREIGHTFREIGHT FORWARDERSGDPGDP PER CAPITAGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBAL ECONOMYGNPGOVERNMENT POLICYGOVERNMENT SERVICESGROWTH RATEHARMONIZATIONHIGHWAYHIGHWAY DESIGNHIGHWAY MAINTENANCEHIGHWAYSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCEHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENTIMPORT BARRIERSIMPROVEMENTS IN ACCESSINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCREMENTAL BENEFITSINDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONINFLATIONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINFRASTRUCTURE ACCESSINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTSINLAND WATERWAYSINSPECTIONSINSURANCEINTEREST RATEINTERFACESINTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSINTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONINTERNATIONAL LOGISTICSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONALIZATIONINVENTORIESINVENTORYINVENTORY HOLDING COSTSINVENTORY LEVELINVENTORY LEVELSINVENTORY MANAGEMENTLATIN AMERICANLAWSLEVELS OF INVENTORIESLIMITED ACCESSLOGISTICS COSTSLOGISTICS PROVIDERSLOGISTICS SERVICE PROVIDERSLOGISTICS SYSTEMLOGISTICS SYSTEMSMAINTENANCE COSTSMANUFACTURINGMARKET ACCESSMATERIALMENUMIDDLE EASTMIGRATIONMOVEMENT OF GOODSNAVIGATIONNEW MARKETSNORTH AFRICAOUTPUT PER CAPITAOVERVALUATIONPACKAGINGPER CAPITA INCOMEPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPOPULATION DENSITYPORT FACILITIESPRESENT VALUEPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENTPRIVATE SECTORSPRODUCTION PROCESSESPRODUCTIVITYPUBLIC ENTERPRISESPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC WORKSQUALITY OF SERVICEQUALITY OF TRANSPORTRAILROADSRAILWAYSREGRESSION ANALYSISREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTSRELIABILITYRESULTRESULTSROADROAD CONDITIONSROAD NETWORKROAD SERVICESROAD TRANSPORTROAD USERROAD USERSROADSRURAL ROADSSAFETYSAFETY NETSSAHARASANITATIONSAVINGSSEARCHSENSITIVITY ANALYSISSERVICES INFRASTRUCTURESET OF STANDARDSHIPPERSSTOCKSSTREETSSUPPLY CHAINTARIFF BARRIERSTAXATIONTECHNICAL SKILLSTELECOMTELECOMMUNICATIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURETELEPHONETELEPHONE LINESTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTOTAL OUTPUTTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FACILITATION PROCEDURESTRADE FLOWSTRAFFICTRAFFIC GROWTHTRAFFIC LEVELSTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT MODESTRANSPORT OF GOODSTRANSPORT SERVICESTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION NETWORKTRANSPORTATION NETWORKSTRANSPORTATION SYSTEMTRAVEL TIMETRUEUSESVEHICLEVEHICLE CLASSESVEHICLE FLEETVEHICLE OPERATINGVEHICLE OPERATIONWEBWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4558