Mario Negre - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Mario Negre
Social Science Research Network, Nov 22, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks, May 1, 2018
Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research pu... more Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world's largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.
PLOS ONE, Jun 21, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
Social Science Research Network, 2018
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
Scientific Reports, Feb 5, 2021
Lack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of elec... more Lack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of electricity to off-grid communities is therefore a long-standing developmental goal. Yet, many off-grid electrification projects neglect mid-and long-term operation and maintenance costs. When this is the case, electricity services are unlikely to be affordable to the communities that are the project's primary target. Here we show that, compared with diesel-powered electricity generation systems, solar photovoltaic systems are more affordable to no less than 36% of the unelectrified populations in East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. We do so by developing geo-referenced estimates of affordability at a high level of resolution (1 km 2). The analysis illustrates the differences in affordability that may be found at the subnational level, which underscores that electrification investments should be informed by subnational data. About 56% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to modern forms of energy. The corresponding shares in East and South Asia are 3% and 11%, respectively 1,2. For comparison, whereas the populations of Africa and China are similar in size, Africa's installed electricity generation capacity is one-tenth of that in China 2. The economic, social and environmental impacts of this shortage contribute to perpetuating poverty in these regions 3. For this reason, providing electricity to unelectrified communities has been a long-standing policy priority of national governments, aid donor-and aid recipient-countries, and is an ambition incorporated in the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly. Under Sustainable Development Goal 7 ("ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all"), an aspirational target has been set to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030 1. Yet, progress in electrification has been slow, and has relied mostly on centralized generation and grid extension, a choice that is not always suitable for scattered rural communities 4. To provide electricity to unelectrified communities and meet the expected increase in demand of communities that already have access to electricity, at least 900 gigawatts of new electricity generation capacity will have to be installed over the next 30 years, a tenfold increase relative to current installed capacity across Africa 5,6. However, lack of access to modern energy services is concentrated in rural areas, where 80% of the energy-poor live 7. Therefore, investments will have to be provided through development aid 8 and independent power producers 5 , who are mostly privately capitalized, because the credit ratings of national governments and public utilities in these regions are inadequate for raising the amounts of capital required to finance universal electrification. Such investments can only materialise if the following conditions are met 5,8,9 : credible power sector planning is introduced; financial risks are reduced, through the involvement of development-finance institutions and other risk-mitigation measures; and regulatory frameworks are reformed, to make them more conducive to attracting the required investments.
World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks, Mar 1, 2019
This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellscha... more This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of the GIZ, The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
World Bank policy research working paper, Jan 21, 2021
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
A country where an individual's chances of success depend little on the socio-economic succes... more A country where an individual's chances of success depend little on the socio-economic success of his or her parents is said to be a country with high relative intergenerational mobility. A government's motivation for seeking to improve mobility is arguably two-fold. There is a fairness argument and an economic efficiency argument. When mobility is low, it means that individuals are not operating on a level playing field. The odds of someone born to parents from the bottom of their generation will be stacked against him or her. This is not only unfair but also leads to a waste of human capital, as talented individuals may not be given the opportunity to reach their full potential. Reducing this inefficiency will raise the stock of human capital and thereby stimulate economic growth. Since the waste of human capital tends to be concentrated toward the bottom of the distribution, the growth brought about by mobility-promoting policy interventions tends to be of an inclusive nature, in line with the spirit of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 on reducing inequality.<br>For large parts of the world's population, individual education is still too closely tied to the education of one's parents, and there is a clear divide between the high-income and developing world. The patterns observed globally are also observed within Europe. Intergenerational mobility (or equality of opportunity) is visibly lower in the new member states (i.e. Eastern Europe), where national incomes are lower. <br>Raising investment in the human capital of poor children towards levels that are more comparable to the investment received by children from richer families will curb the importance of parental background in determining an individual's human capital. Countries at any stage of development can raise intergenerational mobility by investing more to equalise opportunities. The evidence strongly suggests that public interventions are more likely to increase mobility when: <br>a) public investments are sufficiently large,<br>b) are targeted [...]
Washington, DC: World Bank eBooks, Sep 15, 2016
Factors that affect the survival of energy projects in non-interconnected areas: Lessons for Colo... more Factors that affect the survival of energy projects in non-interconnected areas: Lessons for Colombia from the international experience Electric power has been identified as a vital driver for economic and social growth in a country. However, despite the efforts made in recent years, there has not been a significant increase in access by almost 800 million inhabitants worldwide and 2 million in the Colombian case, where many of the energy projects in the Non-Interconnected Zones operate for less than a year once implemented. This work seeks to identify which factors affect the survival of electric power projects in non-interconnected zones. For this, the work hypothesis was proposed, the projects in the world were reviewed to validate if the factors that were postulated in the hypothesis are fulfilled according to what the international literature reports, the results obtained were analyzed with an in-depth interview with an expert on the Colombian case and then proceeded to identify the factors and their effect on the energy projects survival in the ZNIs. It was evidenced that 56% of the articles studied mention community participation, 25% income level, 17% population density, 19% geographic area, 15% productive activity, 15% availability of natural resources and 65% mention or focus on technical aspects, as key factors for the project's survival. It was found that most of the problems encountered by electrical projects once implemented are related to a lack of community involvement, maintenance and management skills. Highlighting the importance of not seeing electrical projects as an end, but as a means of social transformation. In other words, it is necessary XII Factores que afectan la supervivencia de los proyectos de energía eléctrica en las zonas no interconectadas: Lecciones para Colombia de la experiencia internacional to promote socioeconomic development in parallel with the implementation of energy projects, to contribute to their survival over time.
Official development assistance is highly fragmented. Improved donor coordination could substanti... more Official development assistance is highly fragmented. Improved donor coordination could substantially increase efficiency by reducing transaction costs and boost effectiveness by improving its impact. More rigorously applying current approaches to coordination through adherence to the commitments in the European Code of Conduct on Complementarity and the Division of Labour in Development Policy would provide the European Union with significant savings and benefits through, inter alia, fewer aid interventions. Expanding on (Bigsten, A., J.P. Platteau, and S. Tengstam. 2011. The aid effectiveness agenda: The benefits of going ahead. Final Report. Brussels: Soges), the paper assesses potential costs and benefits for EU coordination and concludes that savings could amount to several billion euros annually whilst also positively impacting policy, programming and implementation. However, the large margins of error in quantitative estimates mean that they must be used with great caution in the policy field.
Journal of Income Distribution, May 15, 2018
This article reviews the most recent and relevant evidence on key domestic policy interventions t... more This article reviews the most recent and relevant evidence on key domestic policy interventions that are effective in reducing income inequality in developing countries, the benefits they generate, the choices that need to be made regarding their design and implementation, and the trade-offs that are associated with them. It focuses on a few policy areas in which there is a sufficient body of rigorous evidence to draw useful lessons with confidence: early childhood development, including breastfeeding; universal health care; good-quality education; conditional cash transfers; investments in rural infrastructure; and taxation. The review concludes that there are many pathways to reducing inequality, from narrowing gaps in income generation opportunities to narrowing the potential for inequalities in human capital development before the inequalities emerge, smoothing consumption among the most deprived, and redistribution in favor of the poor. Many interventions are simultaneously associated with equalizing outcomes, improved competition, and economic efficiency. Good interventions combining equality promotion and efficiency are possible in all settings and at different times; this includes interventions disproportionately benefiting the poorest in low-income countries during periods of crisis. Despite the significant increase in knowledge about equality interventions, the article makes a strong call for more microeconomic data and better-more precise-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
World Bank policy research working paper, Nov 1, 2014
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2021
One of Europe's most remarkable external achievements is a comprehensive and legally binding inte... more One of Europe's most remarkable external achievements is a comprehensive and legally binding international cooperation agreement that unites more than half of the world's nation states. Signed in Benin in 2000, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA, commonly referred to as the 'Cotonou Agreement' or just 'Cotonou') intends to intensify the long-standing cooperation in politics, trade and development between the European Union (EU) and the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). This collaboration has led to the creation and evolution of unique institutions that facilitate ACP-EU cooperation among public officials, members of Parliament, and many other partnership actors. The changing global context, along with institutional, political and socioeconomic developments in the EU and the ACP, raise questions about whether this approach to cooperation has sufficiently delivered on its objectives, and which evolutions-or revolutions-may be necessary for these regions' future cooperation. In recent years, various studies have examined this topic, mostly focusing on the Brussels-based ACP and EU representatives who manage and shape the cooperation. This paper seeks to complement existing evidence with the findings of a detailed review of the literature and the perceptions of past, present and future ACP-EU cooperation gathered from a wide range of stakeholders in ten ACP countries. With the CPA's current cooperation framework scheduled to expire in 2020 it seems both warranted and timely to capture such perceptions for use in discussions about the future. The analysis presented here is based on information collected in a structured survey of literature and semi-structured interviews with ACP officials in Brussels, as well as with a large variety of stakeholders in ten ACP countries
Social Science Research Network, Jul 31, 2014
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
The Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which governs relations between the African, Caribbean a... more The Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which governs relations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union (EU), will expire in the year 2020. While the three pillars of this framework addressing political dialogue, development cooperation and trade are generally considered to have served their purpose well, there are clear signs that significant changes within the ACP group, the EU and the wider international landscape demand a different articulation of the relationship.
In an ever-increasing number of policy fields, international cooperation under the conditions of ... more In an ever-increasing number of policy fields, international cooperation under the conditions of ‘fragmentation’ is a reality. Fragmentation is the phenomenon of a multiplication of actors and growing atomisation, affecting goals, modalities and instruments as well as numerous operational and non-operational activities. The term ‘fragmentation’ is used in a number of areas and academic disciplines, including, in particular, the field of development cooperation. Since the beginning of the 2000s in particular, there has been an acceleration in the trend towards the simultaneous proliferation and fragmentation of actors providing aid and other forms of international cooperation. The increasing number of donors and other actors, as well as goals and instruments, has created an environment that is increasingly difficult to manoeuvre in.
Social Science Research Network, Nov 22, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks, May 1, 2018
Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research pu... more Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world's largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.
PLOS ONE, Jun 21, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
Social Science Research Network, 2018
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
Scientific Reports, Feb 5, 2021
Lack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of elec... more Lack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of electricity to off-grid communities is therefore a long-standing developmental goal. Yet, many off-grid electrification projects neglect mid-and long-term operation and maintenance costs. When this is the case, electricity services are unlikely to be affordable to the communities that are the project's primary target. Here we show that, compared with diesel-powered electricity generation systems, solar photovoltaic systems are more affordable to no less than 36% of the unelectrified populations in East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. We do so by developing geo-referenced estimates of affordability at a high level of resolution (1 km 2). The analysis illustrates the differences in affordability that may be found at the subnational level, which underscores that electrification investments should be informed by subnational data. About 56% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to modern forms of energy. The corresponding shares in East and South Asia are 3% and 11%, respectively 1,2. For comparison, whereas the populations of Africa and China are similar in size, Africa's installed electricity generation capacity is one-tenth of that in China 2. The economic, social and environmental impacts of this shortage contribute to perpetuating poverty in these regions 3. For this reason, providing electricity to unelectrified communities has been a long-standing policy priority of national governments, aid donor-and aid recipient-countries, and is an ambition incorporated in the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly. Under Sustainable Development Goal 7 ("ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all"), an aspirational target has been set to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030 1. Yet, progress in electrification has been slow, and has relied mostly on centralized generation and grid extension, a choice that is not always suitable for scattered rural communities 4. To provide electricity to unelectrified communities and meet the expected increase in demand of communities that already have access to electricity, at least 900 gigawatts of new electricity generation capacity will have to be installed over the next 30 years, a tenfold increase relative to current installed capacity across Africa 5,6. However, lack of access to modern energy services is concentrated in rural areas, where 80% of the energy-poor live 7. Therefore, investments will have to be provided through development aid 8 and independent power producers 5 , who are mostly privately capitalized, because the credit ratings of national governments and public utilities in these regions are inadequate for raising the amounts of capital required to finance universal electrification. Such investments can only materialise if the following conditions are met 5,8,9 : credible power sector planning is introduced; financial risks are reduced, through the involvement of development-finance institutions and other risk-mitigation measures; and regulatory frameworks are reformed, to make them more conducive to attracting the required investments.
World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks, Mar 1, 2019
This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellscha... more This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of the GIZ, The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
World Bank policy research working paper, Jan 21, 2021
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
A country where an individual's chances of success depend little on the socio-economic succes... more A country where an individual's chances of success depend little on the socio-economic success of his or her parents is said to be a country with high relative intergenerational mobility. A government's motivation for seeking to improve mobility is arguably two-fold. There is a fairness argument and an economic efficiency argument. When mobility is low, it means that individuals are not operating on a level playing field. The odds of someone born to parents from the bottom of their generation will be stacked against him or her. This is not only unfair but also leads to a waste of human capital, as talented individuals may not be given the opportunity to reach their full potential. Reducing this inefficiency will raise the stock of human capital and thereby stimulate economic growth. Since the waste of human capital tends to be concentrated toward the bottom of the distribution, the growth brought about by mobility-promoting policy interventions tends to be of an inclusive nature, in line with the spirit of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 on reducing inequality.<br>For large parts of the world's population, individual education is still too closely tied to the education of one's parents, and there is a clear divide between the high-income and developing world. The patterns observed globally are also observed within Europe. Intergenerational mobility (or equality of opportunity) is visibly lower in the new member states (i.e. Eastern Europe), where national incomes are lower. <br>Raising investment in the human capital of poor children towards levels that are more comparable to the investment received by children from richer families will curb the importance of parental background in determining an individual's human capital. Countries at any stage of development can raise intergenerational mobility by investing more to equalise opportunities. The evidence strongly suggests that public interventions are more likely to increase mobility when: <br>a) public investments are sufficiently large,<br>b) are targeted [...]
Washington, DC: World Bank eBooks, Sep 15, 2016
Factors that affect the survival of energy projects in non-interconnected areas: Lessons for Colo... more Factors that affect the survival of energy projects in non-interconnected areas: Lessons for Colombia from the international experience Electric power has been identified as a vital driver for economic and social growth in a country. However, despite the efforts made in recent years, there has not been a significant increase in access by almost 800 million inhabitants worldwide and 2 million in the Colombian case, where many of the energy projects in the Non-Interconnected Zones operate for less than a year once implemented. This work seeks to identify which factors affect the survival of electric power projects in non-interconnected zones. For this, the work hypothesis was proposed, the projects in the world were reviewed to validate if the factors that were postulated in the hypothesis are fulfilled according to what the international literature reports, the results obtained were analyzed with an in-depth interview with an expert on the Colombian case and then proceeded to identify the factors and their effect on the energy projects survival in the ZNIs. It was evidenced that 56% of the articles studied mention community participation, 25% income level, 17% population density, 19% geographic area, 15% productive activity, 15% availability of natural resources and 65% mention or focus on technical aspects, as key factors for the project's survival. It was found that most of the problems encountered by electrical projects once implemented are related to a lack of community involvement, maintenance and management skills. Highlighting the importance of not seeing electrical projects as an end, but as a means of social transformation. In other words, it is necessary XII Factores que afectan la supervivencia de los proyectos de energía eléctrica en las zonas no interconectadas: Lecciones para Colombia de la experiencia internacional to promote socioeconomic development in parallel with the implementation of energy projects, to contribute to their survival over time.
Official development assistance is highly fragmented. Improved donor coordination could substanti... more Official development assistance is highly fragmented. Improved donor coordination could substantially increase efficiency by reducing transaction costs and boost effectiveness by improving its impact. More rigorously applying current approaches to coordination through adherence to the commitments in the European Code of Conduct on Complementarity and the Division of Labour in Development Policy would provide the European Union with significant savings and benefits through, inter alia, fewer aid interventions. Expanding on (Bigsten, A., J.P. Platteau, and S. Tengstam. 2011. The aid effectiveness agenda: The benefits of going ahead. Final Report. Brussels: Soges), the paper assesses potential costs and benefits for EU coordination and concludes that savings could amount to several billion euros annually whilst also positively impacting policy, programming and implementation. However, the large margins of error in quantitative estimates mean that they must be used with great caution in the policy field.
Journal of Income Distribution, May 15, 2018
This article reviews the most recent and relevant evidence on key domestic policy interventions t... more This article reviews the most recent and relevant evidence on key domestic policy interventions that are effective in reducing income inequality in developing countries, the benefits they generate, the choices that need to be made regarding their design and implementation, and the trade-offs that are associated with them. It focuses on a few policy areas in which there is a sufficient body of rigorous evidence to draw useful lessons with confidence: early childhood development, including breastfeeding; universal health care; good-quality education; conditional cash transfers; investments in rural infrastructure; and taxation. The review concludes that there are many pathways to reducing inequality, from narrowing gaps in income generation opportunities to narrowing the potential for inequalities in human capital development before the inequalities emerge, smoothing consumption among the most deprived, and redistribution in favor of the poor. Many interventions are simultaneously associated with equalizing outcomes, improved competition, and economic efficiency. Good interventions combining equality promotion and efficiency are possible in all settings and at different times; this includes interventions disproportionately benefiting the poorest in low-income countries during periods of crisis. Despite the significant increase in knowledge about equality interventions, the article makes a strong call for more microeconomic data and better-more precise-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
World Bank policy research working paper, Nov 1, 2014
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2021
One of Europe's most remarkable external achievements is a comprehensive and legally binding inte... more One of Europe's most remarkable external achievements is a comprehensive and legally binding international cooperation agreement that unites more than half of the world's nation states. Signed in Benin in 2000, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA, commonly referred to as the 'Cotonou Agreement' or just 'Cotonou') intends to intensify the long-standing cooperation in politics, trade and development between the European Union (EU) and the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). This collaboration has led to the creation and evolution of unique institutions that facilitate ACP-EU cooperation among public officials, members of Parliament, and many other partnership actors. The changing global context, along with institutional, political and socioeconomic developments in the EU and the ACP, raise questions about whether this approach to cooperation has sufficiently delivered on its objectives, and which evolutions-or revolutions-may be necessary for these regions' future cooperation. In recent years, various studies have examined this topic, mostly focusing on the Brussels-based ACP and EU representatives who manage and shape the cooperation. This paper seeks to complement existing evidence with the findings of a detailed review of the literature and the perceptions of past, present and future ACP-EU cooperation gathered from a wide range of stakeholders in ten ACP countries. With the CPA's current cooperation framework scheduled to expire in 2020 it seems both warranted and timely to capture such perceptions for use in discussions about the future. The analysis presented here is based on information collected in a structured survey of literature and semi-structured interviews with ACP officials in Brussels, as well as with a large variety of stakeholders in ten ACP countries
Social Science Research Network, Jul 31, 2014
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2019
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
The Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which governs relations between the African, Caribbean a... more The Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which governs relations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union (EU), will expire in the year 2020. While the three pillars of this framework addressing political dialogue, development cooperation and trade are generally considered to have served their purpose well, there are clear signs that significant changes within the ACP group, the EU and the wider international landscape demand a different articulation of the relationship.
In an ever-increasing number of policy fields, international cooperation under the conditions of ... more In an ever-increasing number of policy fields, international cooperation under the conditions of ‘fragmentation’ is a reality. Fragmentation is the phenomenon of a multiplication of actors and growing atomisation, affecting goals, modalities and instruments as well as numerous operational and non-operational activities. The term ‘fragmentation’ is used in a number of areas and academic disciplines, including, in particular, the field of development cooperation. Since the beginning of the 2000s in particular, there has been an acceleration in the trend towards the simultaneous proliferation and fragmentation of actors providing aid and other forms of international cooperation. The increasing number of donors and other actors, as well as goals and instruments, has created an environment that is increasingly difficult to manoeuvre in.