Abstract

Agglomeration economies are among the most important factors to increase firm productivity. However, there is little evidence supportive of this in Africa. By applying the conditional and nested logit models, this paper examines the relationship between firm locations and infrastructure accessibility in Rwanda. It is found that agglomeration economies matter to even one of the smallest countries in Africa. It is also found that infrastructure availability has an important role in affecting the firm location decision. Electricity access and transport connectivity to the domestic and international markets are found to be important to attract new investment. In addition, the quality of local labor supplied, measured by educational attainment, is found as an important determinant of firm location, while the effect of labor costs remains inconclusive. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the structure of probabilistic catastrophe risk models, discusses their importance for appraising sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance instruments and strategy, and puts forward a model and a process for improving decision making on the linked disaster risk management strategy and sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance strategy. The paper discusses governments use of probabilistic catastrophe models to inform sovereign disaster risk financing decision making and describes the ex ante and ex post financing instruments available for responding to extreme natural events. It also discusses the challenge of appraising sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance instruments, including a review of the multiple dimensions of disaster risks and the value that probabilistic catastrophe risk models provide. The decision making framework for sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance put forward by the paper includes the use of a decision model (an influence diagram) as a rigorous representation of the relationships between the decisions, uncertain events, and consequences relevant to sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance decision making. The framework also includes a process for generating high-quality customized components for the decision model, and a tool for designing coherent sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance strategies. The paper ends with suggestions for improving catastrophe risk models to facilitate sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance decision making. Document type: Book

Abstract

Since the industrial revolution, the economic development of Western Europe and North America was characterized by continuous urbanization accompanied by a gradual phasing-in of urban land property rights over time. Today, however, the evidence in many fast urbanizing low-income countries points towards a different trend of “urbanization without formalization”, with potentially adverse effects on long-term economic growth. This paper aims to understand the causes and the consequences of this phenomenon, and whether informal city growth could be a transitory or a persistent feature of developing economies. A dynamic stochastic equilibrium model of a representative city is developed, which explicitly accounts for the joint dynamics of land property rights and urbanization. The calibrated baseline model describes a city that first grows informally, with the growth of individual incomes leading to a phased-in purchase of property rights in subsequent periods. The model demonstrates that land tenure informality does not necessarily vanish in the long term, and the social optimum does not necessarily imply a fully formal city, neither in the transition, nor in the long run. The welfare effects of policies, such as reducing the cost of land tenure formalization, or protecting informal dwellers against evictions are subsequently investigated, throughout the short-term transition and in the long-term stationary state. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper addresses the question whether and how co-benefits, through disaster resilience building, can be further promoted. Co-benefits are defined as positive externalities that arise deliberately as a result of a joint strategy that pursues several objectives synergistically at the same time, such as disaster risk management and development goals, or disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. Of particular interest is the question of how the economic and broader benefits of disaster risk management can be recognized and realized by those in charge of fiscal policy decisions. The paper considers the interplay between public disaster risk management investment and fiscal policy, and provides an overview of the current debate as well as assessment methods, tools, and policy options. In fiscal budgeting, it has been standard practice to focus on direct liabilities and recurrent spending. Costs of disasters are often dealt with after the fact only, rather than being considered as contingent liabilities. As a consequence, the full costs of disasters have often not been budgeted for, and, with a price signal missing, there is lack of clear incentives for investing in disaster risk management. Overall, the paper identifies four steps and three dividends to be harnessed: (i) understanding fiscal risk; (ii) protecting public finance through risk financing instruments, the first dividend; (iii) managing disaster risk comprehensively, the second dividend; and (iv) pursuing a synergistic, co-benefits strategy of concurrently managing disaster risks and promoting development, the third dividend. Document type: Book

Abstract

In May 2005, the Bank adopted a new policy and new procedures on Additional Financing (OP/BP13.20) for investment lending, replacing the previous policy on supplemental financing. This policywas later revised in March 2012. This learning product assesses the performance of the AdditionalFinancing (AF) operations approved since then and draws lessons from their implementationexperience. The assessment focuses on AF in projects of the Transport and Information andCommunication Technology (ICT) Global Practice (GP). This was selected as the first batch ofoperations to review because they represent a large share in lending volume, as well as the fact that there is an existing AF study conducted by the former Transport Anchor which this review coulduse to verify the AF portfolio. This note aims to enhance the understanding of the way it has been used and how it has affected the project outcomes, through reviewing a subset of the AF portfolio for which the relevant data was readily available. The review notes the limitation of the small sample. More areas could be investigated when the data of more projects become available.

Abstract

The World Bank Group, DFAT-Australia, and Carnival Australia have partnered to conduct this study of the economic impact of cruise ship tourism in Vanuatu. Data gathering and analysis for this study was carried out by Net Balance Management Group. Over the past 10 years, Vanuatu’s cruise arrivals have grown by 15 percent per year. Cruising to Vanuatu has been buoyed by an advantageous location within a few days’ sail of Australia, a varied destination offering centered on Port Vila, and consistently positive passenger feedback. In 2013, more than 240,000 people arrived in Vanuatu by cruise ship. This translates into 490,000 passenger days. The goal of this study is to quantify the economic impacts of cruising, and to provide data on the cruise sector’s effect on economic activity. The study then identifies a set of investment opportunities that can help to increase the economic benefits of cruise tourism in Vanuatu. This report therefore seeks to provide a platform that can be used by government, the private sector and donor partners to support further strategic, targeted development of cruising. Data on tourism, and by extension on cruise tourism, is not readily available in Vanuatu. This report is an attempt to capture initial economic information about the cruise industry and to provide a point of departure for additional research into the economic, social and environmental impacts of the cruise sector.

Abstract

This paper estimates the volume of informal trade between Algeria and Mali and analyzes its determinants and mechanisms, using a multi-pronged methodology. First, the authors discuss how subsidy policies and the legal framework create incentives for informal trade across the Sahara. Second, the authors provide evidence of the importance of informal trade, drawing on satellite images and surveys with informal traders in Mali and Algeria. The authors estimate that the weekly turnover of informal trade fell from approximately United States (U.S.) 2 million dollars in 2011 to U.S. 0.74 million dollars in 2014, but continues to play a crucial role in the economies of northern Mali and southern Algeria. Profit margins of 20-30 percent on informal trade contribute to explaining the relative prosperity of northern Mali. The authors also show that official trade statistics are meaningless in this context, as they capture less than 3 percent of total trade. Finally, the authors provide qualitative evidence on informal trade actors and mechanisms for the most frequently traded products.

Abstract

Infrastructure services are significant determinants of economic development, social welfare, trade, and public health. As such, they typically feature strongly in national development plans. While governments may receive many infrastructure project proposals, however, resources are often insufficient to finance the full set of proposals in the short term. Leading up to 2020, an estimated US$836 billion - 1 trillion will be required each year to meet growth targets worldwide (Ruiz-Nunez and Wei, 2014; World Bank). Global estimates of infrastructure investments required to support economic growth and human development lie in the range of US$65-70 trillion by 2030 (OECD, 2006), while the estimated pool of available funds is limited to approximately US$45 trillion (B20, 2014). The past twenty years have also seen a shift towards decentralized infrastructure planning. Many subnational governments, regional entities, and sector agencies have been delegated responsibility for infrastructure planning promote local responsiveness, but responsibility for allocating funds often remains with a centralized finance agency (CFA). While constituencies may propose numerous projects, governments often have insufficient financial resources to implement the full suite of proposals. This report presents the IPF methodology and results of the pilot application to a select set of transport and water and sanitation projects in Panama. The report first gives background information on infrastructure prioritization in Panama, then follows with a description of the IPF in technical and implementation terms. Next, we present the results of the pilot and close with recommendations for implementing IPF to a wider set of projects.

Abstract

In the theoretical part of this paper, the authors present criteria by which the satisfaction of the public with police work can be measured. The focus lies on those criteria that are significant for police work in the community and for the reputation of the police as a state organ itself, which is co-responsible for(improving) security in the nation. The empirical part of this paper is based on a study that included 120 residents from the area of Slovenj Gradec police directorate. The interviewees had to give their opinion on various questions or statements about their satisfaction regarding police roadside procedures in the area that they live in. Furthermore, the authors examined the extent to which the residents are willing to help police officers, how they evaluate their work, on what basis the residents shape their opinion and how they evaluate interpersonal competencies of police officers. The results have shown that the satisfaction of residents with roadside police procedures in SlovenjGradec police directorate is relatively good since the majority of answers varies between 3 and 4 on a Likert scale ranging from 1to 5. Even though the evaluations are promising, the authors conclude the paper with several recommendations. Avtorja v teoretičnem delu prispevka predstavljata kriterije merjenja zadovoljstva javnosti z delom policije, pri čemer je poudarek na tistih, ki so značilni za policijsko delo v skupnosti, ter o samem ugledu policije kot državnega organa, soodgovornega za stanje varnosti v državi in dejavnikih za njegovo izboljšanje. Empirični del prispevka temelji na raziskavi, v katero sta vključila 120 občanov z območja Policijske uprave Slovenj Gradec. Anketiranci so se opredeljevali do posameznih sklopov vprašanj in trditev s področja zadovoljstva s postopki policistov pri kontroli cestnega prometa v kraju, v katerem živijo. Konkretneje proučujeta tudi, v kolikšni meri so občani policistom pripravljeni pomagati, kako ocenjujejo njihovo delo, na podlagi česa si oblikujejo mnenje o njih, ter kako ocenjujejo njihove interpersonalne kompetence. Rezultati analize so pokazali, da je zadovoljstvo občanov s postopki policistov pri kontroli cestnega prometa na območju policijskih postaj Policijske uprave Slovenj Gradec relativno dobra, saj se večina odgovorov na vprašanja in trditve iz anketnega vprašalnika giblje med 3 in 4, nekaj tudi nad 4 ali za odtenek nižje od 3. Kljub vsemu pa avtorja v zaključnem delu prispevka podajata kar nekaj predlogov za izboljšanje stanja na tem področju.

Abstract

The objective of this study is to perform a review and contextualize the existing definitions of educational quality from the managerial point of view. We will be presenting also the factors that have been considered to support managerial decision making within educational institutions. Relevant research related to the different models for measuring educational quality and the different factors that affect this quality are discussed. The existing methodological gap of the statistical processes, the theoretical evidences and the number of investigations in every level of education are identified. The results provide a framework for future research and can become the basis for the design and construction of multidimensional models for educational management quality measurement needs of educational institutions. The results evidence also the lack of a single criterion to build the indicators, as well as the fact that there is a strong of subjectivity in the measuring processes.