This paper develops a dynamic model that explains the pattern of population and production allocation in an economy with an urban location and a rural one.
... See More + Agglomeration economies make urban dwellers benefit from a larger population living in the city and urban firms become more productive when they operate in locations with a larger labor force. However, congestion costs associated with a too large population size limit the process of urban-rural transformation. Firms in the urban location also benefit from a public good that enhances their productivity. The model predicts that in the competitive equilibrium the urban location is inefficiently small because households fail to internalize the agglomeration economies and the positive effect of public goods in urban production.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7051 OCT 01, 2014
If the South Asia region hopes to meet its development goals and not risk slowing down or even halting growth, poverty alleviation, and shared prosperity, it is essential to make closing its huge infrastructure gap a priority.
... See More + Identifying and addressing gaps in the data on expenditure, access, and quality are crucial to ensuring that governments make efficient, practical, and effective infrastructure development choices. This study addresses this knowledge gap by focusing on the current status of infrastructure sectors and geographical disparities, real levels of investment and private sector participation, deficits and proper targets for the future, and bottlenecks to expansion. The findings show that the South Asia region needs to invest between US$1.7 trillion and US$2.5 trillion (at current prices) to close its infrastructure gap. If investments are spread evenly over the years until 2020, the region needs to invest between 6.6 and 9.9 percent of 2010 gross domestic product per year, an estimated increase of up to 3 percentage points from the 6.9 percent of gross domestic product invested in infrastructure by countries in the region in 2009. Given the enormous size of the region's infrastructure deficiencies, it will need a mix of investment in infrastructure stock and supportive reforms to close its infrastructure gap. One major challenge will be prioritizing investment needs. Another will be choosing optimal forms of service provision, including the private sector's role, and the decentralization of administrative functions and powers.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7032 SEP 01, 2014
Andres,Luis Alberto; Biller,S. A. Dan; Herrera Dappe,MatiasDisclosed
The South Asia region is home to the largest pool of individuals living under the poverty line, coupled with a fast-growing population. The importance of access to basic infrastructure services on welfare and the quality of life is clear.
... See More + Yet the South Asia region's rates of access to infrastructure (sanitation, electricity, telecom, and transport) are closer to those of Sub-Saharan Africa, the one exception being water, where the South Asia region is comparable to East Asia and the pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean. The challenge of increasing access to these services across the South Asia region is compounded by the unequal distribution of existing access for households. This study improves understanding of this inequality by evaluating access across the region's physical (location), poverty, and income considerations. The paper also analyzes inequality of access across time, that is, across generations. It finds that while the regressivity of infrastructure services is clearly present in South Asia, the story that emerges is heterogeneous and complex. There is no simple explanation for these inequalities, although certainly geography matters, some household characteristics matter (like living in a rural area with a head of household who lacks education), and policy intent matters. If a poorer country or a poorer state can have better access to a given infrastructure service than in a richer country or a richer state, then there is hope that policy makers can adopt measures that will improve access in a manner in which prosperity is more widely shared.
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WPS7033 SEP 01, 2014
Andres,Luis Alberto; Biller,S. A. Dan; Herrera Dappe,MatiasDisclosed
While South Asia's average gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the past decade was only slightly lower than in East Asia and the Pacific, the region significantly lags behind in terms of infrastructure access.
... See More + In some cases, South Asia's access levels are more similar to sub-Saharan Africa, although considerable heterogeneity exists across the South Asia region (SAR) some provinces, infrastructure types, and countries have much higher access levels than others. If SAR can't close its United States (U.S.) $1.7 trillion to U.S. $2.5 trillion infrastructure gap, its growth performance is likely to stall. This note examines the type and magnitude of the infrastructure gap, and also looks at inequality of access to infrastructure across physical, poverty, and income spaces. Keeping in mind five key principles, there are several options for policy makers to consider for closing the infrastructure gap while also improving the equality of access.
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Brief 88928 JUN 01, 2014
Andres,Luis Alberto; Basnyat,Ashma; Biller,S. A. Dan; Herrera Dappe,MatiasDisclosed
Pakistans population is growing and becoming more urbanized. By 2020, Karachi and Lahore will each have a population of well over 10 million people and several other cities will have a population of at least one million.
... See More + These trends offer both risks and opportunities. Badly managed urban centers with poor services and slim opportunity for gainful employment could become centers of discontent and social conflict. Alternatively, properly managed and well-connected cities can help firms become more competitive, and with the right set of policies, promote industrialization and life-changing employment opportunities. In order to capitalize on these opportunities, Pakistan will need to take decisive steps to deepen the pool of skills, strengthen the commercial environment, upgrade infrastructure, diversify production, and climb up the technology ladder. Revitalizing Industrial Growth in Pakistan: Trade, Infrastructure, and Environmental Performance addresses ways in which Pakistan can revitalize its manufacturing by reducing the cost of doing business, improving the investment climate, and strengthening institutions to facilitate the flow of people, goods, and ideas and thus stimulate medium-term growth and job creation. Such revitalization is sorely needed to place the country on a sustained path of high economic growth. The authors lay out priorities and strategies for greening Pakistans industrial growth and provide a comprehensive analysis of issues in the debate on this strategy. They examine the ways in which Pakistan can encourage and assist its private sector to fill the void in low-skilled labor-intensive manufacturing left by other economiesand do so while creating and distributing new wealth. To increase the chances of success, appropriate actions will need to come from different actors in government, the private sector, and civil society. This book will be of interest to government officials and academic researchers working in the fields of industry, the environment, and energy, as well as to the general public.
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Publication 89701 JAN 01, 2014
Sanchez-Triana,Ernesto; Biller,S. A. Dan; Nabi,IjazDisclosed
Despite recent rapid growth and poverty reduction, the South Asia Region (SAR) continues to suffer from a combination of insufficient economic growth, slow urbanization, and huge infrastructure gaps that together could jeopardize future progress.
... See More + It is also home to the largest pool of individuals living under the poverty line of any region, coupled with some of the fastest demographic growth rates of any region. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people living on less than US$1.25 a day in South Asia decreased by only 18 percent, while the population grew by 42 percent. If South Asia hopes to meet its development goals and not risk slowing down, or even halting, growth and poverty alleviation, it is essential to make closing its huge infrastructure gap a priority. But the challenges on this front are monumental. Many people living in SAR remain unconnected to a reliable electrical grid, a safe water supply, sanitary sewerage disposal, and sound roads and transportation networks. This region requires significant infrastructure investment (roads, rails, power, water supply, sanitation, and telecommunications) not only to ensure basic service delivery and enhance the quality of life of its growing population, but also to avoid a possible binding constraint on economic growth owing to the substantial infrastructure gap.
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The Mexico country partnership strategy (CPS), covering FY2014-2019, is fully aligned with the goals of Mexico's national development plan (NDP) for 2013-2018 and supports the Government of Mexico's development agenda of increased productivity and inclusive and sustainable growth.
... See More + The World Bank Group (WBG) program under the CPS fosters the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. The Mexico CPS includes a benchmarking of extreme poverty and shared prosperity and a thorough ex ante diagnosis of development challenges conducted in 2012 utilizing a set of country-specific policy notes. It includes a systematic effort at selectivity for highest impact of WBG activities on the twin goals, WBG comparative advantage, and client demand. Finally, it presents a results-based WBG thematic engagement program that integrates financial, knowledge, and convening services in a tailored package of development solutions. This strategy categorizes the main challenges to reduce extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity into four themes to: (a) increase productivity and ensure its gains are widespread, (b) ensure that poorer segments of society benefit from basic social services and contribute to economic growth, (c) strengthen public finances and improve government efficiency, and (d) combine the economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development.
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Country Assistance Strategy Document 83496 OCT 23, 2013
On a trend decline since 1960, Pakistan's economic growth is highly dependent on financial inflows of aid and worker's remittances. Manufacturing has great potential, though, based on a growing labor force and rising urbanization and connectivity, but its poor performance stems from its largely low-skilled labor force, poor commercial environment, and failure to diversify production and climb up the technology ladder.
... See More + Manufacturing remains heavily concentrated on non-dynamic low value-added consumer products that attract little investment. Though manufacturing is improving these factors, it has room to sharply raise its contribution to Gross domestic Product (GDP) while reducing public 'bads' of an unemployed labor force, such as social conflict and the need for widespread social assistance. Equally, negative impacts of industrial expansion, such as pollution, need to be mitigated with a combination of economic instruments, public participation, industrial voluntary actions, and command and control regulations. This note discusses ways in which Pakistan can revitalize its manufacturing and promote agglomeration economies, thereby increasing manufacturing's contribution to medium-term growth and to job creation.
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The report starts with an overview and introduces the main findings. It addresses major constraints, instruments, and outcomes important to unleash the potential of infrastructure investments and policy fine-tuning.
... See More + Chapter one discusses the infrastructure and growth nexus, given the country's macroeconomic scenario. It examines the long-term sustainability, particularly considering the Mahinda Chintana's high infrastructure investment targets, and how the country can achieve its high economic growth targets, given its historical and current investment levels. Chapter two argues that the two principal drivers of sustained high economic growth and productive employment are: (a) international competitiveness that results in export-led growth; and (b) urbanization that facilitates productive economic activity. Chapter three reviews key infrastructure sectors to identify the regulatory issues that need to be addressed and estimate the needed investment. Redressing infrastructure constraints, however, cannot be piecemeal and product specific. Instead, a sector-wide approach is needed. In light of the large investment requirement and high public debt and deficit, chapter four discusses the potential of public-private partnership in infrastructure delivery and supportive regulatory reform. Finally, chapter five concludes the analysis, summarizing major highlights.
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The Government of Pakistan's (GoP's) 2011 Framework for Economic Growth seeks to place Pakistan on a sustained high economic growth path of 7 percent per year through measures to reduce the cost of doing business, improve the investment climate, and strengthen institutions.
... See More + Trade and transport reforms are central to achieve the Framework's goals. The transport sector constitutes 10 percent of Pakistan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides 6 percent of the employment in the country. The sector plays an important role in linking other sectors in the economy, contributes to both domestic and international trade, and helps facilitate the spatial transformation occurring in Pakistan. The present patterns in transport and trade logistics generate inefficiencies that are costing Pakistan's economy roughly 4-6 percent of GDP per year, which is a major constraint on the aspirations set out in the Framework. This report examines the poverty, social, and environmental aspects associated with trade and transport sector reforms aimed at increasing the freight transport sector's productivity to meet the Framework's goals. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides the objectives and methodology of this work. Chapter 2 discusses the sector status and the trade and transport policy reforms. Chapter 3 establishes the priority issues associated with freight transport reform. Chapters 4 and 5 focused on the social and environmental aspects of the reform, respectively. And chapters 6 and 7 conclude the report by discussing policy options to promote environmentally and socially sustainable trade and transport and an agenda to advance environmentally and socially sustainable trade and transport reforms in Pakistan.
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Publication 79263 JAN 01, 2013
Afzal,Javaid; Biller,S. A. Dan; Malik,Saima Sohail; Sanchez-Triana,ErnestoDisclosed
This paper builds on available literature about the informal sector and environmental policymaking. Its goal is to raise awareness about urban informal sector contamination and to establish an initial policy options framework to address it.
... See More + The first part of the paper describes the informal sector, its significance in urban pollution, and some of the activities that warrant greatest concern for regulators. The second part focuses on the factors that influence decisionmaking, available policy options and their effectiveness, and approaches that go beyond the usual regulatory instruments. The third part is a case study of informal leather tanneries in the San Benito neighborhood of Bogota, Colombia, including proposals and policy options for addressing the industry's pollution problems. The last section provides conclusions and highlights the main ideas of the paper. Finally, an annex, with two mini case studies from other urban centers in Latin America, illustrates the diversity of informality and urban contamination.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 15333 DEC 31, 1995
This note examines broad questions of environmental institution building, focusing on basic elements that help explain an institution's success, possibly, applicable as well, to environmental government institutions in other countries.
... See More + It presents two case studies with regional, and local responses to environmental challenges, drawn from Colombia's experience with natural resource management, and, on the experience in Curitiba, capital of the State of Parana, Brazil, with urban environmental policymaking. The note further questions the rationale for having environmental institutions within governing structures, and, discusses the basic elements for success, and the strategies to be taken in addressing environmental problems.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 19830 DEC 31, 1994
Sustainable economic development is inseparable from wise management of natural resources. In the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, debt and adjustment concerns that dominated the policy agenda only a few years ago have been superseded by the concerns of improving physical infrastructure, developing human resources, enhancing the participation of citizens in development, and protecting the environment.
... See More + This report describes some of the current environmental issues faced by the countries of the region and many of the bold initiatives countries are taking to address them. The World Bank's environmental work falls into four categories: assisting countries in environmental stewardship, addressing environmental impacts of projects, building on the synergies between poverty alleviation, economic efficiency and the environment, and supporting work on global environmental challenges. An overview of the Bank and the region's growing partnership in each of these four areas is also described. Case studies from throughout the region illustrate and underscore these environmental activities.
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