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61. Dynamic Cities? The Role of Urban Local Governments in Improving Urban Service Delivery Performance in Africa and Asia

Author:
Jamie Boex, Ammar A. Malik, Devanne Brookins, and Ben Edwards
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Cities are engines of economic growth that provide spaces for social transformation and political inclusion. Their ability to deliver widely accessible and efficiently functioning public services drives productivity and sustains development. We design and apply an assessment framework to 42 cities in 14 African and Asian countries to better understand the functional, administrative, and political dimensions determining the quality and coverage of water, sanitation, and solid waste collection services. We find that urban local governments are constrained in their authority and discretion to deliver basic public services. Reforming intergovernmental institutional structures to better match responsibilities is essential for realizing cities’ full economic potential.
Topic:
Government, Water, Governance, International Development, Economic Growth, Urban, Sanitation, Services, and Cities
Political Geography:
Africa, Asia, and Global Focus

62. Assessing the Management and Administration in Public Health Facilities of Uganda and the Implications for the Healthcare Service Delivery and Utilization: Evidence from the CODES Project

Author:
Moses Mukundane, Annet Nannungi, Dennis Bataringaya, Adelaine Aryaija-Karemani, Patrick Ssesanga, and Wilson Winstons Muhwezi
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This Policy Research Paper is an outcome of the feld activities carried out under the Community and District Empowerment for Scale-Up (CODES) project- a fve-year initiative (2012-2016) designed to reduce child deaths caused by diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria—the three of the top childhood killer diseases in Uganda today. The paper presents an assessment of one of the critical determinants of quality of healthcare provision – the health facility level management and administration. The paper is premised on the argument that the existing weaknesses in health facility management and administration immensely jeopardize the quality of health care service delivery in public health facilities as well as effective utilization of healthcare by the community. This is to the extent that even when the issues and challenges that require government intervention seem to be improving or being addressed at health facilities, with outstanding weaknesses in facility management and administration, the quality of care does not correspondingly improve.
Topic:
Services, Public Health, Management, and Administration
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

63. Effects of the Syrian Refugees on Turkey

Author:
Oytun Orhan
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
TESEV Foreign Policy Program and ORSAM (Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies) in order to understand the effects of Syrian asylum seekers to Turkey, visited Adana, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Mersin and Kahramanmaraş respectively during four different field study trips in three months. They held series of meetings with municipalities, professional organizations, chambers of trade and industry, civil society organizations, opinion leaders, locals and Syrians. This report has been prepared in the light of the observations and data gained from these field studies.
Topic:
Civil Society, Migration, Refugees, Refugee Crisis, Syrian War, Public Policy, and Services
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

64. Triggering Increased City-Level Public Finance for Pro-Poor Sanitation Improvements

Author:
Jameson Boex and Benjamin Edwards
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
This paper provides a general framework for understanding the political economy and fiscal determinants of sanitation service provision by urban local governments. The paper will address several questions: what do we expect to influence spending on local sanitation? Do different fiscal instruments have an impact on expenditure levels? Do increased local revenues lead to increased expenditures over the long term? What role do different stakeholders play in determining expenditure levels? The paper first looks at the role of political factors in constraining local expenditure decisions, then turns to a review of the fiscal determinants of service delivery expenditures.
Topic:
Political Economy, Governance, Urban, Sanitation, Services, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

65. A Post-2015 Local Governance Agenda

Author:
Jameson Boex
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The role of local governance within global development is approaching an important inflection point. To the extent that local governments function as effective platforms for collective local decision-making and as effective mechanisms for promoting the collective interests of their constituents, local governments are ideal partners for achieving development success. Moreover, regardless of the mechanism or type of decentralization or “localization” that is ultimately chosen, in the end, we cannot ignore the vertical governance mechanisms and multilevel service delivery mechanisms that are needed to ensure the effective delivery of public services at the local level.
Topic:
Governance, International Development, Services, and Decentralization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

66. Towards Freer Movement of Skilled Labour in AEC 2015 and Beyond

Author:
Christopher Findlay
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
Movements of skilled labour in ASEAN have been largely from the lower income labour surplus economies to the higher income labour deficit economies in response to employment and remuneration differentials. The AEC Blueprint includes the objective of free flow of skilled labour to facilitate flows in services and investment. However, free flow is obstructed by differences in qualifications, standards and language proficiency as well as by national legal provisions and policies despite MRAs on professional services and the Agreement on Movement of Natural Persons. To facilitate free flows, their net benefits have to be emphasised; MRAs and labour market access be implemented effectively; and regional differences among tertiary institutions in standards, capabilities and English language proficiency be narrowed through academic cooperation and exchanges, and joint establishment of regional centres of excellence.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Services, Industry, Labor Rights, and Skilled Labor
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia

67. What Affects the Main Engine of Growth in the European Economy? Industrial Interconnectedness and Differences in Performance of Business Services Across the EU25

Author:
Grzegorz Poniatowski and Maciej Sobolewski
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The main purpose of this study is to determine what are the main factors which stand behind the diversity in performance of business services measured by their contribution to growth in the EU Member States. We show that in addition to typical growth factors which enhance labour productivity, also the extent of interconnectedness of business services with upstream industries is important to explain service-based economic growth. The analysis yields two interesting results. Firstly, the authors show that patterns of industrial interconnectedness of business services are considerably diversified across the EU Member States indicating large differences in the integration of services as supplier with other sectors on a country level. Secondly they show that the diversified growth performance of business services across the EU25 countries can be explained by differences in labour productivity and differences in forward linkages. The results indicate the fundamental role of business services as the main engine of growth in the European economy. This service-based growth is channelled mainly through increases in labour productivity and forward interconnectedness of services with downstream industries. On the policy making level the results indicate that investment in human and intangible capital are crucial for the service-dominated economy as they not only enhance economic growth inside knowledge intensive services but also facilitate transmission of growth impulses to downstream industries by increasing diffusion and integration of services as suppliers of high value added inputs to the economy.
Topic:
Development, European Union, Economy, Economic Growth, Services, Innovation, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Europe

68. Liberalization of Trade in Services: Toward a Harmonized ASEAN++ FTA

Author:
Hikari Ishido and Yoshifumi Fukunaga
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
The East Asian countries are seriously discussing the consolidation of ASEAN+1 FTAs to develop so-called ASEAN++ FTA or RCEP. The detailed analysis of services chapters in the existing ASEAN+1 FTAs gives insights to services trade liberalization in this new trade agreement. In order for ASEAN and its FTA partners to gain substantial new commitments that are genuinely "plus" to the existing trade pacts, both WTO GATS and ASEAN+1 FTAs, ASEAN++ countries should aim at an ambitious level of liberalization much higher than the AFAS package 5. Also, the detailed analysis suggests a policy option of narrowing the types of services trade limitations, i.e., focusing on three types of limitations and hence improving transparency. Furthermore, we advocate for the needs of prioritizing production-related services sectors in the negotiation. Beyond ASEAN++ FTA, we briefly explain the critical roles of domestic regulatory reform.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, Reform, Regulation, Services, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia

69. Explaining the Energy Consumption Portfolio in a Cross-Section of Countries: Are the BRICs Different?

Author:
David M. Arseneau
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This paper uses disaggregated data from a broad cross-section of countries to empirically assess differences in energy consumption profiles across countries. We find empirical support for the energy ladder hypothesis, which contends that as an economy develops it transits away from a heavier reliance on traditional fuel sources towards an increase in the use of modern commercial energy sources. We also find empirical support for the hypothesis that structural transformation--the idea that as an economy matures, it transforms away from agriculture-based activity into industrial activity and, finally, fully matures into a service-oriented economy--is an important driver for the distribution of end-use energy consumption. However, even when these two hypotheses are taken into account, we continue to find evidence suggesting that the patterns of energy consumption in the BRIC economies are importantly different from those of other economies.
Topic:
Development, Energy Policy, Infrastructure, Services, and BRIC
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, Brazil, South America, and Global Focus

70. Deepening East Asian Economic Integration in Services

Author:
Phillippa Dee
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
In services markets, there may be legitimate reasons to regulate. Integration efforts should target regulatory restrictions that explicitly limit competition, and those that are intended to meet legitimate objectives, but are clearly more burdensome than need to be. In health and maritime, ASEAN is already relatively liberal by international standards, although there is still scope to promote cross-border trade and ease costly cabotage restrictions. In telecommunications, the residual foreign equity limits are hard to understand, given that past reforms and current technologies have ensured that most markets are already relatively competitive. In finance, there is substantially more to do, despite progress made during the Asian financial crisis. And in air transport, despite commitments to open skies, there is a need to further align the content of bilateral air services agreements with regional integration objectives.
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Bilateral Relations, and Services
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia