Coastal Resources as an Engine of Economic Growth and Reduction of Poverty in West Africa: Policy Considerations

This article synthesizes lessons and outcomes from the second international Coastal Zone Asia-Pacific conference (CZAP) on “Improving the Quality of Life in Coastal Areas,” held in Brisbane in September 2004. The conference theme was chosen as a follow-up from the first CZAP that identified priority actions in response to the increasing recognition of social issues in coastal management, particularly those aiming to improve the state of the coastal areas in the Asia-Pacific region. The second CZAP explored the “quality of life” theme by placing emphasis on rectifying coastal poverty, sustaining livelihoods, and protecting cultural heritage. Mechanisms to address these issues were explored through international agreements, participatory research, capacity building, and education, as well as the continuing need for integrated planning, environmental management, and effective monitoring and evaluation. A post-conference survey showed that the second CZAP resulted in 122 initiatives (82 underway and another 40 planned) to progress the improvement of quality of life in coastal areas. These initiatives ranged from the establishment of a unit that is responsible for river basin and coastal zone management by the Thua Thien Hue provincial government in Vietnam, to a collaborative on-ground livelihoods project between NGOs, government, and financial institutions on coastal zone management facilitated by the Asian Development Bank. However, the authors argue that two key challenges for ICM in the Asia-Pacific region remain. These challenges relate to the effective monitoring and evaluation of ICM initiatives, as well as matching future ICM initiatives to emergent priority areas.     

The effect of institutional factors on public–private partnership success in ports

Port public–private partnerships (PPPs) are considered to be an important emerging mechanism for port development and improvement in port performance especially for developing countries. This paper empirically investigates the effect of institutional factors in the success of port’s PPPs; the latter defined as the attractiveness of the PPP project for private bidders and the market competitiveness of the facility. The empirical investigation of a large sample of ports finds that ‘regulatory quality’, ‘market openness’, ‘ease to start a business’ and ‘enforcing contracts’ are important institutional determinants of port PPP success and may ultimately contribute to port development and economic growth. The results are consistent with and add to the theoretical literature whereas practical implications for port authorities, managers and investors are discussed.     

日本的特殊法人制度和铁路改革新动向

从日本的特殊法人制度角度探讨其铁路改革的发展变化。在日本的公益性法人分类中有一种特殊法人,是依据专门立法而设立的经济组织,其设立的目的在于有些经济活动不适于国家直接插手但也不合适直接交给私营企业去运营。日本铁道建设公团、运输施设整备事业团和日本国铁改革后形成的各JR公司等都属于特殊法人。特殊法人在日本战后经济复兴和实施各类经济社会政策方面发挥了很大作用,但也存在很多问题,因此日本目前正在对其特殊法人制度进行改革。三个位于日本本州的JR公司在形态上已经接近完全民营化,但其特殊的地位决定了它们在相当长时期内将仍旧是保留一定公共性并接受政府管制的特殊类型企业。     

U.S. public transit earnings, employment and privatization

This paper uses individual worker and municipal information to examine privatization's influence on public transit workers' earnings and employment. OLS findings on labor earnings reveal that privatization is associated with an erosion of the public transit union premium. These labor earning findings do not change when correcting for privatization heterogeneity, as unobserved worker characteristics do not differ with differing levels of municipal privatization of public transit services. The employment findings reveal that union public transit workers are more likely to be employed in the public sector and this union-nonunion employment probability differential, declines with increasing levels of privatization. This employment result is interpreted as suggesting that labor cost savings from privatization can be derived from the enhanced employment of relatively low wage nonunion workers in the public sector of public transit services.     

A systematic framework for infrastructure development through public private partnerships

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) play an important role in bringing private sector competition to public monopolies in infrastructure development and service provision and in merging the resources of both public and private sectors to better serve the public needs. However, in worldwide practices, there are mixed results, substantial controversy, criticism and conflict over PPPs. This paper proposes a systematic framework for the delivery of public works and services through PPPs in general. Justified by public procurement principles, aimed at a public–private win–win solution, and based on worldwide best industrial practices and lessons from unsuccessful projects, this framework integrates the four broadly divided stages that repeat over time: (1) design of a workable concession, (2) competitive concessionaire selection, (3) financial regulation, and (4) periodic reconcession and rebidding. The four-stage framework takes into account the requirements of public services, realignment of responsibility and reward among multiple participants in PPPs, the monopolistic rights of the concessionaire, and the wide range of risks and uncertainties in the long concession period. Varying competition elements are incorporated in each of the four stages for continuous performance improvement in the delivery of public works and services. The design of the right concession forms the base on which other stages are implemented in addition to planning the project and allocating risks for enhanced efficiency. The financial regulation allows the government to address changing conditions and to regulate the concession for efficient operation with due discretion, whereas the competitive concessionaire selection and periodic reconcession and rebidding play critical roles in achieving innovation, efficiency and cost effectiveness through direct competition rather than government discretionary intervention.     

北京市公共交通发展模式对长沙市的启示

本文通过对北京市“公益性”公共交通发展模式及其特点的借鉴,探讨了长沙市当前在公共交通民营化过程中存在公交票价标准不一、公交企业内部存在“寻租”等一系列问题,并得出了应从加大财政扶持力度、提高公共责任意识、充分发挥社会监督作用等方面来完善长沙市公共交通的启示。