Municipal Infrastructure Delivery in Ethiopia: A bottomless pit or an option to reach the Millennium Development Goals?

The following paper examines the different options to finance local public infrastructure in Ethiopia based on the assumption that the federal government of Ethiopia will not provide any guarantees for local borrowing. Besides a detailed description of the local public finance system and the capital market in Ethiopia, the paper also sets out some international successful practices in municipal infrastructure financing. Based on the observation of the Ethiopian case and the consideration of the international experiences, the paper has two major pillars that very specifically identify actions required for implementation. On the one hand, the paper recommends a number of feasible arrangements to generate a revenue enhancement of the local authorities in the existing intergovernmental framework. On the other hand, the paper suggests a solution - for creditworthy as well as for potentially creditworthy urban local governments (ULG) - to finance their future demand of public infrastructure together with the national finance institutions as well as the international donors.Fiscal Federalism, Grants, Ethiopia, Urban and Rural Economies

What determines local governments' technical efficiency? The case of road maintenance

In this paper we investigate the determinants of local governments' technical efficiency in road maintenance for a panel of German counties using a broad variety of estimation approaches. More specifically, we calculate efficiency indices using non-parametric (DEA) and parametric (stochastic frontier analysis) reference technologies, and examine how these efficiency indices can be explained by estimating and comparing four different regression models. The results of our analysis show that (controlling for numerous characteristics of the counties) the disposable income of the counties' citizens, intergovernmental grants (for county roads), and the payments to the counties influence efficiency negatively. Concerning political variables we find weak evidence that efficiency decreases with an increasing share of seats of left-wing parties in the county council; the hypothesis that efficiency decreases with the degree of political concentration in the county council could not be confirmed. --Technical efficiency,road maintenance,stochastic frontier analysis,data envelopment analysis,German counties

The public lending right : United States prospects

The concept of the public lending right (PLR), the idea that authors are entitled to be compensated for the multiple uses of their books in libraries, is a relatively new issue of public policy in librarianship and in authorship. There have been substantive movements toward the public lending right for about forty years, and it has been adopted in eleven countries. Two major issues have dominated the movement: authors' struggles to gain acceptance for the emerging idea that the borrowing of a copyrighted work from a library constitutes a use for which the author has a right to be compensated, and efforts to implement the idea in a form that would satisfy the practical requirements of the complicated national and international worlds of libraries, books and politics. The term public lending right was coined by British author Sir Alan Herbert in 1959, after an analogy to the public performing right. However, there is not universal agreement on the nature of the "right" or of the term. While this term has gained general acceptance in English-speaking countries, the concept is also known by other terms, including "library compensation" or forfattarpenning, "author's coin" in Sweden. In West Germany, the term Bibliothekstantieme, "library royalty" is used. In the United States, some authors' groups prefer the term "authors lending royalty," or ALR. Since Denmark established the first PLR system in 1946, ten other nations have implemented a public lending right. Ten countries continue to maintain a PLR system (the Netherlands suspended its PLR program in 1983), but the idea is still new to the United States. The object of this report is to explore the feasibility of the implementation of a public lending right in the U.S. To arrive at a conclusion to the PLR question, the purposes and development of PLR and its models will be described, and issues in the PLR debate will be explored. Legal and copyright issues will be addressed. Brief histories of PLR movements in countries in which it has been adopted will be drawn, with descriptions of relevant activities of writers' and library organizations and interest groups. The U.S. PLR movement and problems and prospects of PLR implementation in the U.S. will be discussed, and a final conclusion will be drawn.not availablePublic Affair

What determines local governments' technical efficiency? : The case of road maintenance

In this paper we investigate the determinants of local governments' technical efficiency in road maintenance for a panel of German counties using a broad variety of estimation approaches. More specifically, we calculate efficiency indices using non-parametric (DEA) and parametric (stochastic frontier analysis) reference technologies, and examine how these efficiency indices can be explained by estimating and comparing four different regression models. The results of our analysis show that (controlling for numerous characteristics of the counties) the disposable income of the counties' citizens, intergovernmental grants (for county roads), and the payments to the counties influence efficiency negatively. Concerning political variables we find weak evidence that efficiency decreases with an increasing share of seats of left-wing parties in the county council; the hypothesis that efficiency decreases with the degree of political concentration in the county council could not be confirmed

Endangered language maintenance and revitalisation: the role of social networks

Numerous studies have found that high-density, ‘traditional’ social networks correlate with the use of low-status or local language varieties. Why some people maintain an ancestral language and transmit it to their children, while others abandon it, is a major issue in the study of language endangerment. This study focuses on Guernesiais, the endangered indigenous language of Guernsey, Channel Islands. Baseline data were collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews; ethnographic methods then shed light on ideologies, attitudes, and the processes of language shift. Availability of interlocutors correlates strongly with fluency, for both native speakers and learners, but the increasing age and linguistic isolation of many native speakers contributes to both individual and societal language loss, along with other factors. Options for supporting (or reconstituting) social networks through language planning are examined

Special Libraries, October 1940

Volume 31, Issue 8https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1940/1007/thumbnail.jp

Transparency, Accountability and Public Participation as Foundations for Effective Operations of Natural Resource Funds: Implications for the Russian Stabilization Fund

This research argues that in order to operate successfully a Natural Resource Fund (NRF), no matter what its goals are, must be transparent, accountable and open for public scrutiny. Otherwise, a NRF could be useless or even harmful. Resource curse, Dutch disease, and rentier behavior are theoretical rationales for establishing NRFs. Corruption is viewed as a transmission channel of natural resource effects on growth. Guidelines to evaluate NRFs for transparency and accountability were developed. Analysis of selected NRFs\u27 websites revealed that Norway and Alaska provide directions to incorporate transparency into a NRF. Alberta demonstrates that even if democracy is strong, a lack of transparency and accountability decreases effectiveness of a NRF. Venezuela and Kazakhstan demonstrate a fragility of a NRF when bureaucratic elites keep a NRF from public oversight. Azerbaijan shows that steady disclosure efforts can improve a NRF\u27s performance, though not by much if public involvement is low. A variety of mistakes were made in designing the Russian Stabilization Fund: in predicting oil market dynamics and, consequently, in setting the threshold and base prices of oil. The lack of proper legislation and checks and balances blocked a chance to fix these mistakes early on. The research concludes with policy recommendations for the government of Russia: to clarify the Fund\u27s mission, to strengthen its legal foundation, to diversify its investment strategy, to establish an auditing policy, to create an overseeing public council, to disclose quarterly and annual reports, to maintain a website, and other improvements

Sub-National Borrowing, Is It Really a Danger?

Due to widespread decentralization of spending responsibilities, increasing revenue power and borrowing capacity of sub-national governments, sub-national borrowing has become an increasingly important source of sub-national finance. While there are arguments for and against giving sub-national authorities room for raising their own financial resources, appropriate sub-national borrowing regulatory framework can reduce chances of defaults and fiscal crises. This dissertation investigates the effectiveness of sub-national borrowing regulations in maintaining fiscal sustainability. More precisely, it tests the hypothesis that is sub-national borrowing is restricted to financing capital investments (the “golden rule”), and if the sub-national governments are provided with some measure of revenue autonomy, then the sub-national borrowing should not endanger fiscal sustainability. Based on the sub-national government panel data for 57 countries between 1990 and 2008 and applying the system GMM estimator and the survival analysis, this dissertation provides support for this hypothesis. The results suggest that the “golden rule” is effective in maintaining fiscal sustainability at both general and sub-national government level. Sub-national tax autonomy, however, seems to have positive but very small marginal effect on fiscal sustainability. The obtained results also emphasize the risk of the soft budget constraint and the moral hazard. Significant central government financing may give encouraging signs to the sub-national governments to over-borrow and to expect being bailed out by the central government. The results obtained in this dissertation imply following policy recommendations. First, sub-national government borrowing does not have to endanger fiscal sustainability if the borrowing regulation framework is well designed and according to specific country circumstances. Second, reducing fiscal dependence on central government financing reduces the risk of moral hazard and improves the effectiveness of borrowing control in maintaining fiscal balance at the sustainable level

Economic and monetary union in Europe

The plans for Economic and Monetary Union in Europe became difficult to achieve during the period 1992-1993. The convergence criteria set up in the Maastricht Treaty block the road towards unification. It is very complex to expect twelve governments with different shades of political colour and twelve states with different economic interests to compromise in such criteria (as inflation, government borrowing, exchange rate stability and interest rates) and eventually, speak with one voice at the end of this decade. This current research provides significant modifications in The Maastricht Treaty , policy making, objectives, even changes in political behavior for better coordination to tackle any turbulence that stands on the way. These changes were unveiled and supported by outside views. The right time for transition to the monetary union depends on the rate of progress in Europe in meeting the stability requirements and in the willingness to move to a more developed political union. Monetary Union could occur late in 1990s but with a number of members left out with major dominant the Germany than the EMS