Societal challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Area

Sub-Saharan Africa trails other regions in providing access to electricity for poor urban and rural residents. This poor performance can be linked to various factors, including political interference in utility policy, higher investment costs and lower profitability of extending service to rural areas. But a major obstacle to wider access is the high charges consumers must pay to connect to the electricity network. The connection charges in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the highest in the world, which has resulted in low rates of electrification in many countries. This paper reviews ways to improve electrification rates by addressing the issue of high connection charges. Essential to the success of such efforts is concurrent political commitment to identify, examine, and implement various low-cost electrification approaches and financing solutions as part of a broad plan to improve access. Electricity companies can lower their connection-related costs, and thus consumer charges, by using a variety of low-cost technologies and materials in distribution networks and household connections; making bulk purchases of materials; and adjusting technical standards to reflect the lower loads of households that use a minimum amount of electricity. Strategies for lowering connection charges may also include spreading charges over a reasonable period, rolling them into monthly service payments, subsidizing connections, or amortizing them through loans. Lowering connection charges is not the only step, but it is an essential part of any strategy for addressing the electricity access gap between rich and poor households in Sub-Saharan Africa, a gap that denies millions of poor Africans the benefits of electricity. 2013-06-27T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-27T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Energy|Science and Technology Development|Finance and Financial Sector DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Access to Finance|E-Business|Engineering|Electric PowerAfricaGolumbeanu, Raluca|Barnes, DouglasConnection charges and electricity access in Sub-Saharan AfricaEnglishAfricaPrivate Sector Development|Energy|Science and Technology Development|Finance and Financial Sector DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Access to Finance|E-Business|Engineering|Electric PowerWPS6511AfricaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperAfrica

A global computable general equilibrium model is used to analyze the economic impacts of rising oil prices with endogenously determined availability of biofuels to mitigate those impacts. The negative effects on the global economy are comparable to those found in other studies, but the impacts are unevenly distributed across countries/regions or sectors. The agricultural sectors of high-income countries, which are relatively energy intensive, would suffer more from rising oil prices than would those in lower-income countries, whereas the reverse is true for the impacts across manufacturing sectors. The impacts are especially strong for oil importers with relatively energy-intensive manufacturing and trade, such as India and China. Although the availability of biofuels does mitigate some of the negative impacts of rising oil prices, the benefit is small because the capacity of biofuels to economically substitute for fossil fuels on a large scale remains limited. 2013-06-27T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-27T04:00:00.000ZEnvironment|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Energy Demand|Oil Refining & Gas Industry|Environment and Energy Efficiency|Energy and EnvironmentThe World RegionTimilsina, Govinda R.How much does an increase in oil prices affect the global economy ? some insights from a general equilibrium analysisEnglishWorldEnvironment|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Energy Demand|Oil Refining & Gas Industry|Environment and Energy Efficiency|Energy and EnvironmentWPS6515WorldEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperThe World Region

The lack of growth in the Brazilian sugarcane-ethanol complex since the 2008 financial crisis has been blamed on policies: lower mandate, holding gasoline prices below world levels, high fuel taxes, and inadequate fuel tax exemptions for ethanol. This paper develops an empirical model of the Brazilian fuel-ethanol-sugar complex to analyze the impacts of these policies. Unlike biofuel mandates and tax exemptions elsewhere, Brazil's fuel-ethanol-sugar markets and fuel policies are unique such that each policy, in theory, has an ambiguous impact on the market price of ethanol and hence on sugarcane and sugar prices. The results indicate two policies that seemingly help the ethanol industry do otherwise in reality: low gasoline taxes and high anhydrous tax exemptions lower ethanol prices. But higher mandates, hydrous ethanol tax exemptions, and gasoline prices had the expected impact of increasing ethanol and sugar prices. Eliminating Brazilian ethanol tax exemptions and mandates reduces ethanol prices by 21 percent. Observed changes in prices are explained by outward shifts in fuel transportation and sugar export demand curves, and bad weather reducing sugarcane supply. 2013-06-28T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-28T04:00:00.000ZTransport|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Health, Nutrition and Population|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Markets and Market Access|Transport and Environment|Renewable Energy|Alcohol and Substance AbuseLatin America & Caribbeande Gorter, Harry|Kliauga, Erika M.|Timilsina, Govinda R.An economic model of Brazil's ethanol-sugar markets and impacts of fuel policiesEnglishBrazilTransport|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Health, Nutrition and Population|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Markets and Market Access|Transport and Environment|Renewable Energy|Alcohol and Substance AbuseWPS6524BrazilEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperLatin America & Caribbean

India's huge expansion in rural electrification in the 1980s and 1990s offers lessons for other countries today. The paper examines the long-term effects of household electrification on consumption, labor supply, and schooling in rural India over 1982-99. It finds that household electrification brought significant gains to consumption and earnings, the latter through changes in market labor supply. It finds positive effects on schooling for girls but not for boys. External effects are also evident, whereby households without electricity benefit from village electrification. Wage rates were unaffected. Methodologically, the results suggest sizeable upward biases in past estimates of the gains from electrification associated with how past analyses dealt with geographic effects. 2013-06-28T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-28T04:00:00.000ZMacroeconomics and Economic Growth|Social Protections and Labor|Energy|Science and Technology DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Engineering|Labor Policies|Economic Theory & Research|Electric PowerSouth Asiavan de Walle, Dominique|Ravallion, Martin|Mendiratta, Vibhuti|Koolwal, GayatriLong-term impacts of household electrification in rural IndiaEnglishIndiaMacroeconomics and Economic Growth|Social Protections and Labor|Energy|Science and Technology DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Engineering|Labor Policies|Economic Theory & Research|Electric PowerWPS6527IndiaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperSouth Asia

After the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, the recovery of fishing was limited while non-fishing sectors temporarily expanded. This paper shows that fishermen's ex-post labor supply responses continued to be constrained by the provision of low quality production assets. The average fishing productivity also declined for the negative selection in response to the aggregate shock. In a natural experiment set-up, it shows widening income inequality after the tsunami for income losses to the recipients of poor quality aid. It suggests the importance of quality monitoring and private market access to sustainably promote rural development after the tsunami. 2013-06-27T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-27T04:00:00.000ZEnvironment|Agriculture|Social Protections and Labor|Water ResourcesFisheries and Aquaculture|Coastal and Marine Environment|Labor Policies|Labor Markets|Coastal and Marine ResourcesEast Asia and PacificNose, ManabuEnduring impacts of aid quality on job choices : the case of the 2004 tsunami in AcehEnglishIndonesiaEnvironment|Agriculture|Social Protections and Labor|Water ResourcesFisheries and Aquaculture|Coastal and Marine Environment|Labor Policies|Labor Markets|Coastal and Marine ResourcesWPS6514IndonesiaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperEast Asia and Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa trails other regions in providing access to electricity for poor urban and rural residents. This poor performance can be linked to various factors, including political interference in utility policy, higher investment costs and lower profitability of extending service to rural areas. But a major obstacle to wider access is the high charges consumers must pay to connect to the electricity network. The connection charges in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the highest in the world, which has resulted in low rates of electrification in many countries. This paper reviews ways to improve electrification rates by addressing the issue of high connection charges. Essential to the success of such efforts is concurrent political commitment to identify, examine, and implement various low-cost electrification approaches and financing solutions as part of a broad plan to improve access. Electricity companies can lower their connection-related costs, and thus consumer charges, by using a variety of low-cost technologies and materials in distribution networks and household connections; making bulk purchases of materials; and adjusting technical standards to reflect the lower loads of households that use a minimum amount of electricity. Strategies for lowering connection charges may also include spreading charges over a reasonable period, rolling them into monthly service payments, subsidizing connections, or amortizing them through loans. Lowering connection charges is not the only step, but it is an essential part of any strategy for addressing the electricity access gap between rich and poor households in Sub-Saharan Africa, a gap that denies millions of poor Africans the benefits of electricity. 2013-06-26T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-26T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Energy|Science and Technology Development|Finance and Financial Sector DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Access to Finance|E-Business|Engineering|Electric PowerAfricaGolumbeanu, Raluca|Barnes, DouglasConnection charges and electricity access in Sub-Saharan AfricaEnglishAfricaPrivate Sector Development|Energy|Science and Technology Development|Finance and Financial Sector DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Access to Finance|E-Business|Engineering|Electric PowerWPS6511AfricaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperAfrica

With increased global interest in biofuels, Zambia, a Sub-Saharan African country that entirely depends on imports for its petroleum supply, is planning to implement blending mandates for biofuels. But, a large number of issues -- including production costs of biofuels, land requirements to meet the mandates, and environmental benefits -- have not yet been explored. This study aims to contribute in filling this gap. It finds that depending on feedstock type, costs of ethanol production range from US$0.360 a liter to US$0.680 a liter while the costs for biodiesel production range from US$0.612 a liter to US$0.952 a liter. Even if lower energy contents of biofuels are taken into account, the analysis shows that biofuels are cheaper than their petroleum counterparts. Considering the cost advantage of these biofuels over petroleum products and the availability of surplus agricultural land, Zambia is likely to benefit from the development of a biofuel industry. Biofuels is expected to reduce Zambia's petroleum import bill, which currently stands at more than US$700 million, enhance food security by providing incentives to increase yields, and increase affordability and accessibility to modern energy in the country where 77 percent of the population still lacks access to modern energy. It could also stimulate rural employment and development.2013-06-24T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-24T04:00:00.000ZEnvironment|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Renewable Energy|Economic Theory & Research|Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases|Food & Beverage IndustryAfricaSinkala, Thomson|Timilsina, Govinda R.|Ekanayake, Indira J.Are biofuels economically competitive with their petroleum counterparts ?production cost analysis for ZambiaEnglishZambiaEnvironment|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Renewable Energy|Economic Theory & Research|Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases|Food & Beverage IndustryWPS6499ZambiaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperAfrica

Mali, a landlocked West African nation at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, has introduced a program to produce biodiesel using jatropha curcas, a non-edible shrub widely available throughout the country by farmers for generations as a living fence for their gardens. The aim of the program is to partially substitute diesel, which is entirely supplied through imports, with domestic biodiesel produced from a feedstock that does not have any commercial value otherwise and thus has zero opportunity cost. This paper uses a computable general equilibrium model to investigate economy-wide and distributional impacts of large-scale jatropha production on different types of lands, and conversion of jatropha oil to biodiesel for domestic consumption. It assesses impacts on agricultural and other commodity markets, resource and factor markets, and international trade. The results are fed into a detailed household survey-based micro-simulation model to assess impacts on poverty and income distribution. The study finds that the expansion of jatropha farming would be beneficial in terms of both macroeconomic and distributional impacts as long as idle lands, which have been neither used for agriculture nor protected as forests, are utilized. However, if jatropha plantation is carried out on existing agriculture lands, the economy-wide impacts would be negative although it would still help reduce rural poverty.2013-06-24T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-24T04:00:00.000ZMacroeconomics and Economic Growth|Social Protections and Labor|Poverty Reduction|EnergyEconomic Theory & Research|Rural Poverty Reduction|Renewable Energy|Markets and Market Access|Labor PoliciesAfricaBoccanfuso, Dorothee|Coulibaly, Massa|Timilsina, Govinda R.|Savard, LucMacroeconomic and distributional impacts of jatropha-based biodiesel in MaliEnglishMaliMacroeconomics and Economic Growth|Social Protections and Labor|Poverty Reduction|EnergyEconomic Theory & Research|Rural Poverty Reduction|Renewable Energy|Markets and Market Access|Labor PoliciesWPS6500MaliEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperAfrica

Facing a huge fiscal burden due to imports of entire petroleum despite the availability of a surplus of agricultural land to produce biofuels, Zambia, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa, has recently introduced a biofuel mandate. But, a number of questions, particularly those related to the economics of biofuels, have not been fully investigated yet. Using an empirical model this study analyzes the economics of meeting the biodiesel mandate through soybean feedstock. The study finds that meeting the biodiesel mandate with biodiesel from soybeans would reduce social welfare because the country's soybean imports would cost more than the expected reduction in petroleum imports. However, if Zambia increases its domestic soybean supply along with its capacity to convert soybean to biodiesel, as well as oil yield, soybean based biodiesel is likely to be welfare-beneficial, even if biodiesel prices are above diesel prices. The study also finds that under current market prices and transportation costs and constraints, the same amount of biodiesel can be produced most cost-effectively with a tax exemption. A blend mandate would be less cost effective, while a biodiesel production subsidy represents the least efficient policy option.2013-06-24T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-24T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Markets and Market Access|Renewable Energy|Emerging Markets|Economic Theory & ResearchAfricade Gorter, Harry|Drabik, Dusan|Timilsina, Govinda R.Should Zambia produce biodiesel from soybeans ? some insights from an empirical analysisEnglishZambiaPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Markets and Market Access|Renewable Energy|Emerging Markets|Economic Theory & ResearchWPS6498ZambiaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperAfrica

Since the onset of economic reforms in 1978, China has been remarkably successful in reducing the carbon dioxide intensities of gross domestic product and industrial production. Most analysts correctly attribute the rapid decline in the carbon dioxide intensity of industrial production to rising energy prices, increased openness to trade and investment, increased competition, and technological change. China's industrial and technology policies also have contributed to lower carbon dioxide intensities, by transforming industrial structure and improving enterprise level technological capabilities. Case studies of four energy intensive industries -- aluminum, cement, iron and steel, and paper -- show how the changes have put these industries on substantially lower carbon dioxide emissions trajectories. Although the changes have not led to absolute declines in carbon dioxide emissions, they have substantially weakened the link between industry growth and carbon dioxide emissions. 2013-06-18T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-18T04:00:00.000ZEnvironment|Information and Communication Technologies|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Technology Industry|ICT Policy and Strategies|Environmental Economics & Policies|Energy and EnvironmentEast Asia and PacificRock, Michael T.|Toman, Michael|Cui, Yuanshang|Jiang, Kejun|Song, Yun|Wang, YanjiaTechnological learning, energy efficiency, and CO2 emissions in China's energy intensive industriesEnglishChinaEnvironment|Information and Communication Technologies|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Technology Industry|ICT Policy and Strategies|Environmental Economics & Policies|Energy and EnvironmentWPS6492ChinaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperEast Asia and Pacific

With rapid development of wind power in China, the following three issues have become barriers for further scale-up: 1) concentration of wind farms in the Three-North region, which became significantly underutilized because of a limited capability of local power grids to off-take and consume wind-generated electricity and because of a lack of coordinated development of long-distance transmission lines to deliver electricity to load centers in the South and East regions; 2) increasing subsidies and, thus, a burden on final consumers; and 3) resistance of local authorities to develop new projects because the new value added tax policy reform. How to deal with these issues will have significant impact on the future development of wind in China. This note proposes a methodology to enhance a comprehensive approach by taking both generation and transmission into account in crafting the development plan and formulating the incentive policies, which may be useful in addressing these issues.2013-06-17T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-17T04:00:00.000ZEnvironment|Energy|Science and Technology DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases|Carbon Policy and Trading|Windpower|Science of Climate ChangeEast Asia and PacificSong, Yanqin|Berrah, NoureddineChina: west or east wind -- getting the incentives rightEnglishChinaEnvironment|Energy|Science and Technology DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases|Carbon Policy and Trading|Windpower|Science of Climate ChangeWPS6486ChinaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperEast Asia and Pacific

Competitive bidding is an important policy tool to procure goods and services from the market at the lowest possible cost. Under traditional public procurement systems, however, it may be difficult to purchase highly customized objects, such as energy efficiency services. This is because not only prices but also other nonmonetary aspects need to be taken into account. Multidimensional auctions are often used to evaluate multidimensional bids. This paper examines the bidding strategy in multidimensional auctions, using data from public energy service company projects in Japan. It shows that multidimensional auctions work well, as theory predicts. The competition effect is significant. In addition, strategic information disclosure, including walk-through and preannouncement of reserve prices, can also promote energy savings and investment. Risk sharing arrangements are critical in the energy service company market. In particular, the public sector should take regulatory risk. 2013-06-17T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-17T04:00:00.000ZEnvironment|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Energy|Finance and Financial Sector DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Climate Change Economics|Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases|Debt Markets|Energy DemandEast Asia and PacificIimi, AtsushiMultidimensional auctions for public energy efficiency projects : evidence from the Japanese ESCO marketEnglishJapanEnvironment|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Energy|Finance and Financial Sector DevelopmentEnergy Production and Transportation|Climate Change Economics|Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases|Debt Markets|Energy DemandWPS6485JapanEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperEast Asia and Pacific

This paper examines export diversification along the product and market dimensions for selected countries in the Europe and Central Asia region and, more generally, export performance. While the latter is extraordinary, with average export growth rates above 10 percent, the evidence on diversification is less impressive, and hints at a role played by the interaction of natural resource abundance and the commodity price boom. A cross-country analysis including 171 economies suggests that the region's resource rich countries are less diversified than would be expected given their resource endowments, level of development, and size. The commodity boom period was associated with an increase in concentration for the resource rich along the product dimension: they did not increase the number of products exported and became more reliant on oil and gas. During the same period, the resource poor increased their export product scope while maintaining other concentration indices unchanged. A similar but milder pattern is found for diversification along the destination dimension. 2013-06-03T04:00:00.000Z2013-06-03T04:00:00.000ZMacroeconomics and Economic Growth|Water Resources|International Economics and Trade|Rural DevelopmentMarkets and Market Access|Agribusiness & Markets|Water and Industry|Economic Theory & Research|Access to MarketsEurope and Central AsiaVarela, Gonzalo J.Export diversification in twelve European and Central Asian countries and the role of the commodity boomEnglishEurope and Central AsiaMacroeconomics and Economic Growth|Water Resources|International Economics and Trade|Rural DevelopmentMarkets and Market Access|Agribusiness & Markets|Water and Industry|Economic Theory & Research|Access to MarketsWPS6472Europe and Central AsiaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperEurope and Central Asia

This paper provides an empirical analysis of economic and political determinants of gasoline and diesel prices for about 200 countries over the period 1991-2010. A range of both political and economic variables are found to systematically influence fuel prices, and in ways that differ systematically with countries’ per-capita income levels. For democracies, the analysis finds that fuel prices correlate positively with both duration of democracy and tenure of democratic leaders. In non-democratic societies there is more often no such relationship or it is the opposite of that for democracies. Regime switches -- transitions from non-democratic to democratic government, or vice versa -- reduce fuel prices. Fuel prices are also lower for more corrupt, or more centralized, governments. Higher levels of gross domestic product per capita lead to higher fuel prices, while export income from selling fossil fuels reduces these prices dramatically. Higher motor fuel consumption also appears to reduce fuel prices, most for gasoline. Absolute "pass-through" of crude oil price changes to fuel prices is found to be high on average. 2013-05-31T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-31T04:00:00.000ZTransport|Private Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Transport Economics Policy & Planning|Economic Theory & Research|Emerging Markets|Transport and EnvironmentThe World Regionvan Beers, Cees|Strand, JonPolitical determinants of fossil fuel pricingEnglishWorldTransport|Private Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Transport Economics Policy & Planning|Economic Theory & Research|Emerging Markets|Transport and EnvironmentWPS6470WorldEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperThe World Region

In the Middle East and North Africa, food security and water security are tightly entwined. In particular, choices about the extent to which food security policies rely on trade rather than domestically produced staples have stark consequences for the region's limited water resources. This paper builds on previous modeling results comparing the cost and benefits of policies to protect consumers against surging international wheat prices, and expands the analysis to consider the consequences of the policies for water resources. A self-sufficiency policy is analyzed as well. Results suggest that trade-based food security policies have no significant effect on the sustainability of water resources, while the costs of policies based on self-sufficiency for water resources are high. The analysis also shows that while information about the water footprint of alternative production systems is helpful, a corresponding economic footprint that fully measures the resource cost of water is needed to concisely rank alternative policies in economic terms that are consistent with sustainable outcomes.2013-05-29T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-29T04:00:00.000ZIndustry|Water Supply and Sanitation|Water ResourcesTown Water Supply and Sanitation|Food & Beverage Industry|Water and Industry|Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions|Water Supply and SystemsMiddle East and North AfricaLarson, Donald F.Blue water and the consequences of alternative food security policies in the Middle East and North Africa for water securityEnglishMiddle East and North AfricaIndustry|Water Supply and Sanitation|Water ResourcesTown Water Supply and Sanitation|Food & Beverage Industry|Water and Industry|Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions|Water Supply and SystemsWPS6464Middle East and North AfricaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperMiddle East and North Africa

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the post-2004, across-the-board, commodity price increases, which initially appeared to be a spike similar to the ones experienced during the early 1950s (Korean War) and the 1970s (oil crises), have a more permanent character. From 1997-2004 to 2005-12 nominal prices of energy, fertilizers, and precious metals tripled, metal prices went up by more than 150 percent, and most food prices doubled. Such price increases, especially in food commodities, not only fueled a debate on their key causes, but also alarmed government officials, leading to calls for coordinated policy actions. This paper examines the relative contribution of various sector and macroeconomic drivers to price changes of five food commodities (maize, wheat, rice, soybeans, and palm oil) by applying a reduced-form econometric model on 1960-2012 annual data. The drivers include stock-to-use ratios, crude oil and manufacturing prices, the United States dollar exchange rate, interest rate, and income. Based on long-run elasticity estimates (approximately -0.25 for the stock-to-use ratios, 0.25 for the oil price, -1.25 for the exchange rate, and much less for others), the paper estimates the contribution of these drivers to food price increases from 1997-2004 to 2005-12. It concludes that most of the price increases are accounted for by crude oil prices (more than 50 percent), followed by stock-to-use ratios and exchange rate movements, which are estimated at about 15 percent each. Crude oil prices mattered most during the recent boom period because they experienced the largest increase.2013-05-21T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-21T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Industry|EnergyMarkets and Market Access|Emerging Markets|Food & Beverage Industry|Climate Change Economics|Energy Production and TransportationThe World RegionBaffes, John|Dennis, AllenLong-term drivers of food pricesEnglishWorldPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Industry|EnergyMarkets and Market Access|Emerging Markets|Food & Beverage Industry|Climate Change Economics|Energy Production and TransportationWPS6455WorldEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperThe World Region

The transformation of India's unorganized sector is important to its modernization, growth, and attainment of regional economic equality. This paper documents several key facts about India's unorganized sector in manufacturing and services. First, the unorganized sector is large, accounting for more than 99 percent of establishments and 80 percent of employment in manufacturing. Second, the unorganized sector is stubbornly persistent -- it accounted for 81 percent of manufacturing employment in 1989 and 2005. Third, this persistence is not due to particular subsets of industries or states, as most industries and states show limited change in unorganized sector employment shares. Fourth, the degree to which localized unorganized activity exists is important as it is associated with weaker production functions for manufacturing firms. Building from these facts, the paper investigates conditions promoting transformation by state-industry. Decomposition exercises find that both within and between adjustments for state-industries weakly reduce unorganized sector shares. The aggregate persistence instead comes from the covariance term, where fast-growing state-industries witness rising unorganized sector activity. Regressions quantify that growth in the organized sector by state-industry reduces the unorganized sector employment share, but only marginally reduces employment levels in unorganized activity. Analysis of the establishment size distribution highlights that entrepreneurship and larger organized sector plants are most important for transitions in the manufacturing sector, while small establishments play a key role in the services sector. 2013-05-21T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-21T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Social Protections and Labor|Water Resources|EducationLabor Markets|Labor Policies|Water and Industry|Tertiary Education|E-BusinessSouth AsiaGhani, Ejaz|Kerr, William R.|O'Connell, Stephen D.The exceptional persistence of India's unorganized sectorEnglishIndiaPrivate Sector Development|Social Protections and Labor|Water Resources|EducationLabor Markets|Labor Policies|Water and Industry|Tertiary Education|E-BusinessWPS6454IndiaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperSouth Asia

In 2011, the median oil imports rose to 5 percent of gross domestic product for net importers. In the past several years, many governments have not passed through the world oil price increases to consumers fully. As a sign of divergent pricing policies, the retail prices of gasoline, diesel, and cooking gas in January 2013 varied by a factor of 190, 250, and 70, respectively, across developing countries. Policies to keep oil product prices low to benefit the economy and protect the poor have had a number of unintended negative consequences, including flourishing corruption in the oil sector and entrenchment of monopoly operators or inefficient firms through which subsidies are channeled, stifling competition and raising costs. The path to market-based pricing depends on the starting conditions: the gap between current and market-based price levels, the level of public awareness about the extent of departure from market prices, the degree of market concentration and competition in downstream oil, the subsidy delivery mechanism where subsidies are provided, the robustness of social service delivery, and the perceived credibility of the government. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that pricing reform often does not have a clear end and should instead be viewed as a continuous process of adjustment and search for mechanisms that take into account the country's institutions and political system, and the oil sector's market structure, infrastructure, and history.2013-05-20T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-20T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|International Economics and Trade|EnergyMarkets and Market Access|Energy Production and Transportation|Access to Markets|Emerging Markets|Economic Theory & ResearchThe World RegionKojima, MasamiDrawing a roadmap for oil pricing reformEnglishWorldPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|International Economics and Trade|EnergyMarkets and Market Access|Energy Production and Transportation|Access to Markets|Emerging Markets|Economic Theory & ResearchWPS6450WorldEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperThe World Region

Using an empirical model, this study provides some insights into the functioning of the oilseed-biodiesel-diesel market complex in a large country that determines the biodiesel price, reflecting market equilibrium changes resulting from volatility in the crude oil price. Oilseed crushing produces joint products -- oil and meal –-- and this weakens the link between the biodiesel and oilseed feedstock prices. Higher crude oil prices increase biodiesel prices if biofuel benefits from a fuel tax exemption, but lower them with a blending mandate (minimum biofuel content requirement in marketed fuel). When both canola and soybeans are used to produce biodiesel, an increase in the crude oil price leads to higher canola prices, but the effect on soybean prices is ambiguous and depends on relative elasticities of meal demand and canola supply because canola produces more oil than soybeans. An oil price shock with a blending mandate results in a smaller change in oilseed prices compared with a fuel tax exemption. Jumps in world crude oil prices have differential impacts on commodity prices and welfare in developing countries, depending on which policy determines the biodiesel price in OECD countries.2013-05-20T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-20T04:00:00.000ZPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Markets and Market Access|Renewable Energy|Oil Refining & Gas Industry|Emerging MarketsThe World Regionde Gorter, Harry|Drabik, Dusan|Timilsina, Govinda R.The effect of biodiesel policies on world oilseed markets and developing countriesEnglishWorldPrivate Sector Development|Macroeconomics and Economic Growth|Industry|EnergyEnergy Production and Transportation|Markets and Market Access|Renewable Energy|Oil Refining & Gas Industry|Emerging MarketsWPS6453WorldEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperThe World Region

In large parts of the world, a lack of home tap water burdens households as the water must be brought to the house from outside, at great expense in terms of effort and time. This paper studies how such costs affect girls' schooling in Ghana, with an analysis based on four rounds of the Demographic and Health Surveys. Using Global Positioning System coordinates, it builds an artificial panel of clusters, identifying the closest neighbors within each round. The results indicate a significant negative relation between girls' school attendance and water hauling activity, as a halving of water fetching time increases girls' school attendance by 2.4 percentage points on average, with stronger impacts in rural communities. The results seem to be the first definitive documentation of such a relationship in Africa. They document some of the multiple and wide population benefits of increased tap water access, in Africa and elsewhere. 2013-05-15T04:00:00.000Z2013-05-15T04:00:00.000ZWater Resources|Water Supply and SanitationTown Water Supply and Sanitation|Water and Industry|Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions|Water Conservation|Water UseAfricaNauges, Celine|Strand, JonWater hauling and girls' school attendance : some new evidence from GhanaEnglishGhanaWater Resources|Water Supply and SanitationTown Water Supply and Sanitation|Water and Industry|Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions|Water Conservation|Water UseWPS6443GhanaEnglishPolicy Research Working PaperAfrica