Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

There is significant room to improve public investment efficiency in sub-Saharan Africa. Investment in sub-Saharan African countries is lagging vis-à-vis peers such as emerging and developing Asia as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, and the region’s infrastructure is perceived as being of relatively low quality. Improving the efficiency of sizable investment programs in the region could contribute to more solid economic growth and help achieve desired social priorities and development goals. Results point to some variability in public investment efficiency within the region. Comparing efficiency scores across country groups suggests that investment efficiency in sub-Saharan African oil exporters tends to be lower than in sub-Saharan African non-resource-intensive countries. Additionally, countries in East African Community (EAC) perform better than those in Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Stronger institutions could foster more efficient public investment. The regression results in this paper show a positive correlation between public investment efficiency and the quality of institutions, suggesting that devel-oping stronger institutions in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to a significant improvement in investment efficiency. This is particularly relevant for coun-tries with weak institutional quality, where governments may use capital spending as a vehicle for rent-seeking, leading to inefficient spending. Given the current drive for scaling up investment in sub-Saharan Africa, the task of improving institutions quickly should become a priority.

Loans --- Economic Development --- Africa, Sub-Saharan --- Business & Economics --- Infrastructure --- Public Finance --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures --- Other Public Investment and Capital Stock --- Investment --- Capital --- Intangible Capital --- Capacity --- Public Administration --- Public Sector Accounting and Audits --- Public finance & taxation --- Macroeconomics --- Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP) --- Public investment spending --- Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) --- Capital spending --- Expenditure --- National accounts --- Public financial management (PFM) --- Public-private sector cooperation --- Public investments --- Saving and investment --- Capital investments --- São Tomé and Príncipe, Democratic Republic of

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This timely and insightful collection of essays written by economists from a range of academic and policy institutes explores the subject of public investment through two avenues. The first examines public investment trends and needs in Europe, addressing the initiatives taken by European governments to tackle the COVID-19 recession and to rebuild their economies. The second identifies key domains where European public investment is needed to build a more sustainable Europe, from climate change to human capital formation.

Investment & securities --- Economics, finance, business & management --- EU (European Union) --- climate change --- COVID-19 recession --- Europe --- European governments --- human capital formation --- NextGenerationEU --- public investment --- sustainable Europe

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Why do governments in developing economies invest in roads and not enough in schools? In the presence of distortionary taxation and debt aversion, the different pace at which roads and schools contribute to economic growth turns out to be central to this decision. Specifically, while costs are front-loaded for both types of investment, the growth benefits of schools accrue with a delay. To put things in perspective, with a “big push,” even assuming a large (15 percent) return differential in favor of schools, the government would still limit the fraction of the investment scale-up going to schools to about a half. Besides debt aversion, political myopia also turns out to be a crucial determinant of public investment composition. A “big push,” by accelerating growth outcomes, mitigates myopia—but at the expense of greater risks to fiscal and debt sustainability. Tied concessional financing and grants can potentially mitigate the adverse effects of both debt aversion and political myopia.

Human capital. --- Public investments. --- Government investments --- Investments, Public --- Expenditures, Public --- Investments --- Capital budget --- Economic development projects --- Investment of public funds --- Human assets --- Human beings --- Human resources --- Capital --- Labor supply --- Finance --- Economic value --- Infrastructure --- Labor --- Public Finance --- Fiscal Policy --- International Lending and Debt Problems --- Debt --- Debt Management --- Sovereign Debt --- Institutions and Growth --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures --- Other Public Investment and Capital Stock --- Education: General --- Human Capital --- Skills --- Occupational Choice --- Labor Productivity --- Investment --- Intangible Capital --- Capacity --- Public finance & taxation --- Education --- Labour --- income economics --- Macroeconomics --- Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP) --- Public investment spending --- Human capital --- Expenditure --- National accounts --- Public-private sector cooperation --- Public investments --- Saving and investment --- United States --- Income economics

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, launched in 1999 by the IMF and the World Bank, was the first coordinated effort by the international financial community to reduce the foreign debt of the world’s poorest countries. It was based on the theory that economic growth in heavily indebted poor countries was being stifled by heavy debt burdens, making it virtually impossible for these countries to escape poverty. However, most of the empirical research on the effects of debt on growth has lumped together a diverse group of countries, and the literature on the countries’ impact of debt on poor is scant. This pamphlet presents the findings of the authors’ empirical research into the subject, analyzing the channels through which debt affects growth in low-income countries.

Development aid. Development cooperation --- Exports and Imports --- Financial Risk Management --- Public Finance --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures --- Other Public Investment and Capital Stock --- International Lending and Debt Problems --- Debt --- Debt Management --- Sovereign Debt --- Public finance & taxation --- International economics --- Finance --- Public investment spending --- External debt --- Debt service --- Debt relief --- Public debt --- Expenditure --- Asset and liability management --- Public investments --- Debts, External --- Debts, Public --- Lao People's Democratic Republic

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This pamphlet focuses exclusively on corrupt public practices. It liststhe potential causes and consequences of public corruption and presentsrecent evidence on the extent to which corruption affects investment,economic growth, and government expenditure choices. The evidence presented here suggests that corruption may have considerable adverseeffects on economic growth by reducing private investment and perhaps byworsening the composition of public expenditure.

Political corruption --- Bribery --- Economic development --- Development, Economic --- Economic growth --- Growth, Economic --- Economic policy --- Economics --- Statics and dynamics (Social sciences) --- Development economics --- Resource curse --- White collar crimes --- Boss rule --- Corruption (in politics) --- Graft in politics --- Malversation --- Political scandals --- Politics, Practical --- Corruption --- Misconduct in office --- Economic aspects --- Corrupt practices --- E-books --- Public Finance --- Criminology --- Bureaucracy --- Administrative Processes in Public Organizations --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures --- Other Public Investment and Capital Stock --- National Government Expenditures and Education --- Corporate crime --- white-collar crime --- Public finance & taxation --- Expenditure --- Expenditure composition --- Public investment spending --- Education spending --- Crime --- Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP) --- Expenditures, Public --- Public investments --- Public-private sector cooperation --- United States --- White-collar crime