Abstract

This is the first report presenting the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and indicators. It aims to shed light on how different countries are doing in the area of trade logistics, and what they can do to improve their performance. It is based on a worldwide survey of the global freight forwarders and express carriers who are the most active in international trade. LPI and its underlying indicators constitute a unique dataset to measure country performance across several dimensions of logistics and to benchmark that logistics performance against 150 countries. It provides the empirical basis to understand and compare differences in trade logistics as well as to inform policy with respect to difficult bottlenecks and tradeoffs. As a tool for policymakers, professionals, development agencies, and other stakeholders, it will directly support the fast-growing agenda for reforms and investments in trade and transport facilitation. The report provides some insights on the cost of poor logistics to country competitiveness and the sources of those higher costs. Beyond cost and time taken to deliver goods, the predictability and reliability of supply chains is increasingly important in a world of just-in-time production sharing. Costs related to hedging against uncertainty are significant. Equally, cost and quality of logistics are determined not just by infrastructure and the performance of public agencies, but also by the availability of quality and competitive private services. Moreover, in many developing countries, problems of adverse geography are compounded by a weak modern services sector due to poor institutions or over-regulation. The report closes with some practical insights, advocating a comprehensive, integrated approach to ensure that actions in one area are not rendered ineffective by bottlenecks in another.

Abstract

The objectives of the study are to: a) increase understanding of the effects and effectiveness of the implementation of the local government reform launched in 2006; and b) assess the impact of a World Bank-supported intervention that aimed to enhance effectiveness of the reforms by increasing local capacity and local participation. In line with these objectives, the study assessed the perceived effects and effectiveness of the implementation of the local government reform in selected provinces. The study also constitutes a baseline to allow for on-going assessment of progress and to inform corrective policy actions. The instruments and methods created during the study may be used in future assessments of the dynamics of local governance reform. These effects are reviewed in section two. The study also carried out a rigorous evaluation of the impact of an operational intervention carried out with World Bank support in the three regions of the study. This grant-funded project was aimed at increasing the effectiveness of participation of rural citizens in public life and increasing the capacity of local administrations to operate in the new legal and fiscal environment created by the decentralization reform. The summary of the impact evaluation can be found in section three.