Van de Walle, Dominique2014-08-272014-08-272000-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19782The author examines how rural road investment projects should be selected and appraised when the objective is poverty reduction. After critically reviewing past and current practices, the author develops an operational approach grounded in a public economics framework in which concerns of equity and efficiency are inseparable, information is incomplete in important ways, and resources are limited. She addresses a key problem: that an important share of the benefits to the poor from rural roads cannot be measured in monetary terms. The selction formula she proposes aims to identify places where poverty and economic potential are high and access is low. She illustrates the method using data for and project experience in Vietnam. Among the advantages of proceeding as outlined in her proposal: This approach holds the hope of building capacity and is participatory; it extracts local information that may not be readily available to the central government; and it appears to be feasible because it relies on local authorities participating in the appraisal of subprojects.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONBASIC ACCESSBENCHMARKBENEFIT ANALYSISCONSUMER SURPLUSCOST SAVINGSDAILY TRAFFICDEVELOPMENT PROJECTSECONOMIC ANALYSISECONOMIC CONDITIONSECONOMIC EFFICIENCYECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC IMPACTECONOMICSECONOMISTSEFFECTIVE USEEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEMPLOYMENTEXPENDITURESFORECASTSFRAMEWORKFREIGHT TRANSPORTGIRLSHEALTH POLICYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME GROUPSINCOMPLETE MARKETSINFANT MORTALITYINPUTINSURANCEINTERNAL RATE OF RETURNINTERVENTIONJOURNEYJOURNEY TIMELIVING STANDARDSLOCAL AUTHORITIESMALNUTRITIONMARGINAL BENEFITSMIGRATIONMORTALITYNET BENEFITSOPPORTUNITY COSTPASSENGERPEDESTRIANSPOLICY RESEARCHPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPRICESPRODUCTION INCREASESPRODUCTIVITYRATE OF RETURNRESEARCH PROJECTSROAD CHARACTERISTICSROAD DENSITYROAD INFRASTRUCTUREROAD INVESTMENTROAD INVESTMENTSROAD REHABILITATIONRURAL ROADSRURAL TRANSPORTSAVINGSSCHOOLSSELECTION BIASSOCIAL WELFARETERRAINTRADEOFFSTRAFFICTRAFFIC DENSITYTRAFFIC VOLUMETRANSITION ECONOMIESTRANSPORTTRANSPORT PROJECTSTRAVEL TIMEURBAN ROADSVALUATIONVEHICLESWELFARE FUNCTIONWELFARE GAINSWILLINGNESS TO PAY10.1596/1813-9450-2458