Economic valuation of development projects: a case study of a non-motorized transport project in India

Hua Wang; Ke Fang; Yuyan Shi
World Bank
September 2010

One of the major difficulties in doing cost-benefit analysis of a development project is to estimate the total economic value of project benefits, which are usually multi-dimensional and include goods and services that are not traded in the market. Challenges also arise in aggregating the values of different benefits, which may not be mutually exclusive. This paper uses a contingent valuation approach to estimate the economic value of a non-motorized transport project in Pune, India, across beneficiaries. The heads of households which are potentially affected by the project are presented with a detailed description of the project, and then are asked to vote on whether such a project should be undertaken given different specifications of costs to the households. The total value of the project is then derived from the survey answers. Econometric analysis indicates that the survey responses provide generally reasonable valuation estimates.

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Explaining high transport costs within Malawi - bad roads or lack of trucking competition?

Lall, Somik V.; Wang, Hyoung; Munthali, Thomas
Policy Research working paper No 5133
World Bank
November 2009

What are the main determinants of transport costs: network access or competition among transport providers? The focus in the transport sector has often been on improving the coverage of "hard" infrastructure, whereas in reality the cost of transporting goods is quite sensitive to the extent of competition among transport providers and scale economies in the freight transport industry, creating monopolistic behavior and circular causation between lower transport costs and greater trade and traffic. This paper contributes to the discussion on transport costs in Malawi, providing fresh empirical evidence based on a specially commissioned survey of transport providers and spatial analysis of the country’s infrastructure network. The main finding is that both infrastructure quality and market structure of the trucking industry are important contributors to regional differences in transport costs. The quality of the trunk road network is not a major constraint but differences in the quality of feeder roads connecting villages to the main road network have significant bearing on transport costs. And costs due to poor feeder roads are exacerbated by low volumes of trade between rural locations and market centers. With empty backhauls and journeys covering small distances, only a few transport service providers enter the market, charging disproportionately high prices to cover fixed costs and maximize markups.

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Peru - Safe and Sustainable Transport SWAp: Indigenous peoples plan

Author: Eduardo Bedoya Garland
World Bank
November 2009

(Vol. 1 of 3) : Plan de la comunidad campesina Nagazu
(Vol. 2 of 3) : Plan de compensacion y reasentamiento involuntario - PACRI
(Vol. 3 of 3) : Plan de la comunidad campesina San Juan de Ocros

Haiti - Transport and Territorial Development Additional Financing Project

Project Information Document - Concept Stage
World Bank
August 2009

Sector:
Roads and highways (80%);
Agricultural marketing and trade (20%)

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Training course on the design and construction of low volume rural roads

Research for Development
June 2009

The objective of the project is the effective transfer of appropriate knowledge on the selection, design, construction and management of Low Volume Rural Roads (LVRRs) to provincial and district engineers operating under the Cambodian National Decentralisation and De-concentration (NCDD) programme. The NCDD is investing in rural access and rural roads and is consequently interested acquiring knowledge relevant to improving the performance of these investments. Training Module 1 was conducted from 4th to 7th May 2009: LVRR paving and surfacing training. This is a 4 day course based on the materials developed for DF 55 in Vietnam, but amended and upgraded to suit Cambodian rural infrastructure needs and environments. Documents attached are course details and summary, and presentations for the course. The presentations are:

- 1: LVRR Principles
- 2: Surfacing and Paving Options
- 3: Pavement Option Selection and Design
- 4: LVRR Pavement Construction
- 5: Environmentally Optimized Design
- 6: Desk Exercise.

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Performance monitoring of low volume rural roads in Northwest Laos PDR

J. R. Cook and B. Meksavanh
SEACAP 17/002
Research for Development
2009

The performance monitoring was a logical and necessary continuation of the main SEACAP 17 trial programme and was concerned primarily with the collection and analysis of pavement performance information from trial road sections. This project (termed SEACAP 17.02) was a one-off data collection and assessment exercise that should be repeated with sufficient regularity so as to enable valuable lessons to contribute to the sustainable development of the Lao PDR rural infrastructure.

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A road construction materials database for Cambodia

SEACAP 19. Technical Paper No. 7.
Research for Development
2008

There is an increasing awareness of the cost-effectiveness of including natural resource management as part of the planning for infrastructure development. A Pilot Materials Database (PRMD) relational structure has been set up and a representative suite of data has been collected and entered into this structure.

This document comprises a Main Text and three Appendices. Following the Introduction, the Main Text summarises the importance of local materials in the development of rural infrastructure and the advantages of being able to readily access information of the nature and quantities of available construction materials. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the development and current status of the SEACAP 19 Pilot Materials Database (PRMD), while Chapter 6 outlines the way forward through a staged expansion of the PRMD. A selected bibliography of useful papers and reports is included.

Appendix A provides a guideline of the data collection procedure as developed for the PRMD and Appendix B describes the associated database structure. Appendix C is a Concept Note on the expansion of the PRMD through a series of Modules.

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Low Volume Rural Road Environmentally Optimised Design Manual

Global Transport Knowledge Partnership
May 2009

The objective of this project was to relate the new Laos LVRR Standards and Specifications to the road design process using an EOD approach. This was done by elaborating EOD guidelines targeted for Laos engineers in the field. The manual:

i. Links LVRR design procedures to the standards and specifications;
ii. Focuses the allocation of scarce resources in the most efficient and sustainable manner;
iii. Is user friendly and written in English and Laos languages; and,
iv. Was tested for Laos conditions.

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Perspectivas: Análisis de temas críticos para el desarrollo sostenible

CAF
Vol. 6 Nº 2
Diciembre 2008



Presenta otros de los trabajos que estarán contenidos en el Reporte de Economía y Desarrollo 2009, el cual abarca el rol de infraestructura y su impacto en el desarrollo sostenible de los países de la región. Dos de sus documentos examinan los impactos sobre el bienestar de los hogares de dos casos concretos de intervenciones sobre la infraestructura (Programa Redes Solidarias en Argentina y Programa de Caminos Rurales en Perú). Un tercer documento contempla un caso de impacto de infraestructura vial sobre la productividad en Colombia y, por último, se examina los incentivos para optimizar los impactos ambientales de los proyectos de infraestructura.

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SEACAP experience in transport research in the GMS with lessons for new initiatives on gender and transport

Conference Paper
Prepared for the Regional research design workshop for gender, poverty and mobility analysis of road transportation development in GMS. Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), 1-3 April 2009.
SEACAP

All effective development, including infrastructure, involves the need for a recognition and harmonization of technical, social, economic, environmental and political goals. In the transport sector it is now becoming increasingly important that there is closer collaboration between all of the key disciplines. The development of better rural access and transport should lead to important benefits shared by rural people. In general terms these benefits are poverty reduction, job creation and access to socio-economic opportunities. Rural people should also benefit from involvement in the construction and the maintenance of the rural transport infrastructure. However, not all benefits are currently equally realized by women and men. The South East Asia Community Access Programme (SEACAP) is an initiative addressing problems of rural access and transport sustainability. It does this by developing a multi-disciplinary knowledge base for good decision making through carrying out projects of applied research into practice. This paper describes the SEACAP approach, project outputs that have a gender dimension, and it makes recommendations for further research into advancing gender equity in rural access and transport.

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