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301. Infrastructure for Growth: How to Finance, Develop, and Protect It

Author:
Carlo Secchi and Stefano Riela
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
This study is an initiative of the ISPI’s Centre on Infrastructure, promoted with the knowledge partnership of McKinsey & Company. It analyses the importance of economic infrastructure and how to finance and develop it. Economic infrastructure is the backbone that, in many cases, crosses the borders of political geo- graphy and defines the space supporting the movement of goods, services, people and their ideas. The eight articles of this study are structured into four main sections: 1) The economic impact of infra- structure, with a focus on the transportation network of the EU; 2) The geopolitical role of infrastructure; 3) The infrastructure gap at the global level and how to ease its financing; 4) The efficient development of infrastructure.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Finance, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

302. Tourism as a Mechanism in Reducing Income Inequality in Developing Economies

Author:
D. Tan and Risa Morimoto
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
Although numerous studies have investigated the contribution of tourism to economic growth and development, much less attention has been paid to assessing whether tourism-induced growth and development contribute to the poverty alleviation and income inequality (Kinyondo & Pelizzo, 2015). This study emamines the statistical relationship between tourism activities and a suite of income inequality measures. Using a dynamic fixed country-level effects panel model and bootstrapped standard errors, we find strong evidence showing both tourism dollars and inbound tourism numbers have an adverse effect ion income equality. These findings are supported by the results of the fixed-effects panel and dynamic pooled OLS regressions. The results of this study suggest that more effort should be exerted to develop pro-poor tourism initiatives in order to mitigate the inequitable distribution of the benefits of tourism as well as to reduce possible environmental degradation caused by rural poverty.
Topic:
Development, Tourism, Inequality, Income Inequality, Economic Theory, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

303. Managing Disasters 4.0: Need For New Thinking

Author:
Angelo Paolo L. Trias
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
The UN Global Assessment Report (GAR) is a comprehensive review and analysis of worldwide progress on disaster risk management (DRM). This year’s edition challenges us to move beyond prevailing norms in DRM to consider the complex nature of systemic risk. What does this shift mean and how will it shape DRM policy, research, and practice?
Topic:
Development, Migration, United Nations, Risk, Sustainability, and Disaster Management
Political Geography:
Global Focus

304. Is global inequality rising or falling?

Author:
Tony Addison, Jukka Pirttilä, and Finn Tarp
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
When measured in relative terms, global inequality has been decreasing. However, in absolute terms it has been increasing. What does this mean for analysing and addressing inequality? While it remains vital to continue reducing the global incidence of poverty, inequality has risen both in international and national agendas. Inequalities — in incomes, assets, and human development — matter for citizens as ethical and political issues. Large inequalities matter for economic development as they and can slow economic growth, generate economic crises, and destabilize political systems.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Inequality, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

305. Trends in Private Capital Flows to Low-Income Countries: Good and Not-So-Good News

Author:
Nancy Lee and Asad Sami
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Interest in mobilizing private finance for SDG investments is surging in a world of stagnating aid, limited fiscal space, and rising LIC debt. But is more reliance on private finance realistic for LICs? This paper explores the performance since the global financial crisis of one source of private finance for LICs: cross-border private capital inflows. Much of the evidence is encouraging, and some of it flies in the face of conventional wisdom. For LICs, private capital inflows are an important and growing source of finance. For the median LIC, private capital inflows are now as large as ODA as a share of GDP. And the FDI component—most of LIC inflows—has been stable and resilient throughout the post-crisis period. Importantly, inflows are not all captured by resource-rich LICs. In 2017, more than half of capital inflows to LICs went to non-resource-rich LICs. Increasingly, policies, not just resource endowments, shape LIC destinations for foreign capital. The relation between median capital inflows/GDP and median regulatory quality is significantly positive for non-resource-rich LICs. And sources of FDI are diversifying. In 2016, China’s stock of FDI in Africa was almost as large as that of the traditional investors: the US, UK, and France. But there is also not-so-good news. Median private capital inflow/GDP ratios are not positively correlated with median private domestic investment/GDP in LICs. Nor is there a significant relationship with median public investment/GDP. The apparent lack of complementarity between foreign and domestic investment may point to problems related to investment enclaves and/or the role of the state in LIC economies. As in other countries, non-FDI inflows to LICs are volatile and sensitive to global commodity prices and interest rates. We find no relation between median country per capita income levels and private inflows/GDP, highlighting the need for caution in IDA graduation policies.
Topic:
Development, Capital Flows, Interest Rates, Private Sector, and Capital
Political Geography:
Global Focus

306. “Contractors or Collectives?” Earmarked Funding of Multilaterals, Donor Needs and Institutional Integrity: The World Bank as a Case Study

Author:
Owen Barder, Euan Ritchie, and Andrew Rogerson
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
We revisit the policy dilemmas thrown up by so-called Multi-bi funding (earmarked bilateral aid routed via multilateral channels), based on a case study of World Bank trust funds, given their industry-leading overall size and relative transparency. We update patterns of sources and uses of Multi-bi using the 2019 Trust Funds Directory and use this to derive a new Index of Responsible Multi-bi Donorship. We consider complementary donor motivations for Multi-bi, highlighting their perceived need to shift the focus of a multilateral institution faster than they believe possible through its core systems. We examine potential negative effects of Multi-bi on the distortion of funding choices available to client countries, and above all on the risk of “hollowing out” of the multilateral itself, as the locus of power and accountability shifts from the wider collective toward a narrower set of contracting relationships. We find that current trust fund reform efforts can at best partly address these dynamics, while the growing trend toward creation of sub-windows within the main core funding instrument could potentially make things worse. Instead, we offer a pragmatic two-track solution that could significantly reduce tensions between funder needs and institutional integrity. This involves (a) developing an improved battery of output indicators mapped to donor core contributions, to enhance visibility and results reporting and (b) routing new Multi-bi proposals increasingly through core governance processes, focusing initially on greater transparency and on demonstrating their additionality to donors’ core funding.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Finance, Banks, Donors, and Funding
Political Geography:
Global Focus

307. Five Takeaways on the Future of Humanitarian Reform

Author:
Jeremy Konyndyk
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The world’s humanitarian aid architecture is growing outdated. Relief programs are most effective when they are integrated, locally owned, and demand driven. But humanitarian action in the 21st century remains constrained by a 20th-century aid model: siloed, supply driven, and centered on the individual mandates and sectors of major international aid agencies. This makes aid both less effective and less responsive than it could be. In a world where displacement is at the highest levels in generations, climate disasters are increasing, and humanitarian funding is beginning to level off, this disconnect is no longer tenable. But fixing it is not a simple matter—multiple rounds of humanitarian reform over the past 15 years have made progress but fallen short of fundamental change. Earlier this summer in Geneva, CGD convened two high-level private roundtables, one with leaders from humanitarian donor institutions and another with senior executives from major humanitarian aid agencies (both multilaterals and NGOs), to discuss how to make humanitarian aid more cohesive and user-centered. The meetings were part of a multiyear research initiative exploring how modernizing the humanitarian business model and humanitarian governance are integral to improving field-level humanitarian impact. CGD teed up the conversation with three emerging ideas from our research (you can see the presentation slides here). These ideas—the subjects of several forthcoming papers CGD is developing —explore ways of better aligning aid delivery around enhanced impact toward affected people’s priorities
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Reform, and Humanitarian Intervention
Political Geography:
Global Focus

308. Promoting Investment in Research for Development Outcomes: A Research Ventures Fund at the World Bank

Author:
Scott Morris
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This note proposes a new Research Ventures Fund (RVF) at the World Bank to better prioritize R&D investments in support of development progress. The RVF would employ financing mechanisms that are consistent with research needs: significant scale and scope, patience, and tolerance for failure. Existing development-oriented research consortia like CGIAR would provide a promising start for RVF funding allocations. Donors to the IDA-19 replenishment should take the first step in securing funding for the new fund in 2019.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, World Bank, Finance, Research, and Banking
Political Geography:
Global Focus

309. People-Driven Response: Power and Participation in Humanitarian Action

Author:
Jeremy Konyndyk and Rose Worden
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The notion that humanitarian response should center on the people it serves, rather than the aid agencies serving them, has been repeatedly codified in humanitarian commitments as far back as the early 1990s. Yet the mainstream humanitarian system has struggled to translate these commitments into practice: corresponding reform efforts have failed to systemically broaden accountability to and participation of aid recipients in response efforts. Major constraints have included misaligned incentive structures between donors and aid agencies, power imbalances between aid providers and aid recipients, and operational and political complexities arising at field level. To produce real systemic change, the aid system must move beyond technical and rhetorical approaches to accountability and begin reshaping the power and incentive structures that influence aid decision-making. This paper proposes a set of mutually reinforcing recommendations centered around three imperatives: enshrining the influence of aid recipients at all levels of aid decision-making; developing independent channels for soliciting the priorities and perspectives of crisis-affected people; and institutionalizing a set of enabling changes to humanitarian operational and personnel practices.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Institutionalism, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

310. Marginal, Not Transformational: Development Finance Institutions and the Sustainable Development Goals

Author:
Charles Kenny
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Development finance institutions have positioned themselves as key agencies to help the world meet the Sustainable Development Goals. It is doubtful that they can deliver. This paper outlines the challenges facing DFIs in achieving (anywhere near) such an expansion in their impact, particularly in infrastructure and particularly in the poorest countries. It notes that private investment in SDG priority areas is low in the poorest countries, and the record of private investment in rolling out services is mixed. These issues are linked in part to significant supply side constraints based on country characteristics. DFIs do better than the market as a whole at investing in challenging infrastructure–but not by much. And while the scale of their ‘leverage’ in terms of attracting dollars that would otherwise not have been invested is hard to determine, in the poorest markets in infrastructure it is certainly low. Finally, DFIs and donors more broadly have long tried to improve deal flow with limited success, suggesting there are few deals on the margin of occurring which only require small extra incentives to materialize.
Topic:
Development, Finance, Institutions, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Global Focus