Information-based instruments for improved urban management

The task of urban managers is to ensure the provision of basic urban services, such as water, waste removal, security, transport, and an environment conducive to economic activity, while maintaining fiscal sustainability of city operations. City managers in developing countries face increasing pressure in achieving these goals because of rapid urbanization, the larger responsibilities following decentralization, and the economic challenges of globalization. Based on experience in Bangalore, India, the authors argue that effective, forward-looking urban management requires a much better information infrastructure than is currently available in most cities.Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Decentralization,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform

Thought for Food: the impact of ICT on agribusiness

This report outlines the impact of ICT on the food economy. On the basis of a literature review from four disciplines - knowledge management, management information systems, operations research and logistics, and economics - the demand for new ICT applications, the supply of new applications and the match between demand and supply are identified. Subsequently the impact of new ICT applications on the food economy is discussed. The report relates the development of new technologies to innovation and adoption processes and economic growth, and to concepts of open innovations and living lab

Thought for Food: The impact of ICT on agribusiness

The paper outlines the impact of ICT on the food economy. On basis of a literature review from four disciplines – knowledge management, management information systems, operations research and logistics, and economics - the paper identifies the demand for new ICT applications, the supply of new applications and the match between demand and supply. Subsequently, the paper discusses the impact of new ICT applications on the food economy. The paper relates the development of new technologies to innovation and adoption processes and economic growth, and to concepts of open innovations and living labs.ICT, Food Economy, Innovation and Adoption, Economic growth, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Herbert Simon (1916-2001). The scientist of the artificial

With the disappearance of Herbert A. Simon, we have lost one of the most original thinkers of the 20th century. Highly influential in a number of scientific fields—some of which he actually helped create, such as artificial intelligence or information-processing psychology—Simon was a true polymath. His research started in management science and political science, later encompassed operations research, statistics and economics, and finally included computer science, artificial intelligence, psychology, education, philosophy of science, biology, and the sciences of design. His often controversial ideas earned him wide scientific recognition and essentially all the top awards of the fields in which he researched, including the Turing award from the Association of Computing Machinery, with Allen Newell, in 1975, the Nobel prize in economics, in 1978, and the Gold Medal Award for Psychological Science from the American Psychological Foundation, in 1988

How to improve public sector finances in Honduras

The objectives of a public sector management program should be to use resources more efficiently rationalize public sector operations and reduce financial disequilibrium. This report presents a comprehensive policy program to improve public finances in Honduras. It recommends that Honduran authorities prepare an action plan for improving public sector management. The plan should include the following measures: (a) increase savings; (b) introduce efficiency-saving measures; (c) improve budgeting, debt management and tax collection; (d) standardize accounting practices and properly account for debt service obligations; (e) start external management audits of enterprises; and (f) establish financial targets for, and reduce government transfers to, public enterprises. It also recommends measures to: (g) improve service delivery; (h) implement a well-defined privatization program; (i) prepare and implement a growth oriented and financially feasible public investment program; (j) improve decisionmaking and increase accountability and autonomy in public enterprises; (k) improve coordination of the sector; (l) target subsidies; and (m) improve better financial information on the public sector.Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Stabilization

Loko I‘a

This is a manual on Hawaiian fishpond restoration and management. It includes information on the history of Hawaiian fishponds, permits and regulatory considerations, equipment for operations, net-pen production, optimizing pond health, troubleshooting, limu production, organizing a business plan and the economics of revitalizing Hawaiian fishpond production

The Effects of Individual Vessel Quotas in the British Columbia Halibut Fishery

Implementation of Individual vessel quotas (IVQs) in the British Columbia halibut fishery has provided a unique opportunity to examine the effects of this management technique on a previously intense "derby" fishery. This paper describes the changes that have occurred in the fishery since the introduction of individual vessel quotas in 1991. The results presented here are largely based on the findings of two surveys. In September 1993, we conducted in-depth interviews with most of the major halibut processors in British Columbia. These processors reported significant changes in the processors and marketing of halibut. In Spring 1994, we conducted a mail survey of all 435 licensed halibut fishermen. The survey consisted of several series of questions designed to measure changes in fishing operations (crew size, fishing practices, etc.). quota leasing activities, changes in fishing income, and opinions about the effects of IVQs. The results presented here provide important information about the effects of the British Columbia halibut IVQ program to date and will be useful for comparison to similar management programs implemented elsewhere.fishery management, ITQs, Pacific Halibut, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Reforming tax systems - the World Bank record in the 1990s

The main constraint on world Bank operations in tax and customs administration is the Bank's inadequate institutional framework for accumulating knowledge from loan operations, concludes this review of the Bank's record on reform of tax systems in the 1990s. The Bank's theoretical basis for reforming tax and customs administration is still rudimentary. Recent theories stress the importance of institutions that harness voice and improve transparency and contestability, but there is little evidence that reform of these factors alone makes tax administration more effective. Improvements are needed in pre-project diagnosis and project design, especially for examining accountability, administration costs, managerial autonomy, performance incentives for staff, taxpayer equity and services, and environmental factors. Pre-project work could draw more systematically on lessons from previous experience. Institutional components of project design have been biased toward organization, manpower upgrading, and procedures related to information technology. Too little attention has been paid to improving accountability, administrative cost-effectiveness, and anticorruption institution-building. Projects have made inadequate use of different kinds of performance indicators, with little uniformity in those applied. Methods used to evaluate project outcomes could be better and more uniform. Suggestions for future Bank operations: 1) doing better background work and articulating a strategy and comprehensive framework for Bank involvement in reform of tax administration. 2) Possibly supporting and strengthening regional tax administration associations, which could serve as catalysts for change. 3) Strengthening partnering and supporting private sector consultant organizations, so they can manage major components of administrative reform. 4) Institutionalizing the accumulation of knowledge about tax administration (which might require changing staff recruitment, the mix of staff skills, and training plans). The authors provide recommendations for improving project diagnosis, design, performance indicators, and appraisal, as well as a short list of projects that serve as guides to good practice.Enterprise Development&Reform,Decentralization,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,National Governance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Tax Policy and Administration

TOWARD EFFICIENT BYCATCH MANAGEMENT IN MULTISPECIES FISHERIES: A NONPARAMETRIC APPROACH

Linear programming-based models of individual multispecies groundfish operations in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands area are developed and applied to the question of determining efficient bycatches. The policy tool is halibut quotas, which restrict the bycatch of halibut and also induce changes in the target species catch composition and bycatch of other prohibited species. Efficient quotas can be interpolated from the locus of shadow values for discrete halibut quotas relative to the opportunity cost of prohibited species bycatch induced by the policy-set quotas on halibut bycatch. Because of information limitations intrinsic to fisheries management, the efficient halibut quotas are considered in the context of ranges of marginal value and marginal opportunity cost developed using short- and long-run groundfish fishery models and standard error estimates of opportunity cost.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Price stabilization for raw jute in Bangladesh

Fluctuating prices for raw jute have been viewed as contributing to economic problems in the jute subsector. Price fluctuations were thought to reduce the jute farmers'welfare and there has been concern about the costs of parastatals'stocking operations in attempts to stabilize jute prices and incomes. The authors examine these fluctuations and analyze policies that might reduce them. They find that price fluctuations for raw jute reduce farmers'welfare only slightly because farmers'activities are typically diversified and jute's share in total income is small. Although stocking operations by the parastatals contribute to stability in prices and real income, they have been extremely costly and have crowded out private stocking. The authors contend that if the parastatals had refrained from ad hoc stocking and if the private sector had stocked efficiently, jute prices and incomes would have been just as stable - and at no cost. They argue that the Bangladeshi jute market should be free of government intervention and that a a market-based credit system that allows efficient stockholding behavior by the private sector should be established. They also found that improving the flow of market information to farmers and greater price responsiveness by jute mills to raw jute purchases would significantly improve the stability of raw jute prices and incomes. Having more information available would also make private stocking operations more efficient.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access