World Bank project-financed research on population, health, and nutrition

This report on World Bank project-financed research on population, health and nutrition (PHN) is based on a review of 109 staff appraisal reports for projects financed in fiscal years 1980-91 and on selected interviews with task managers. The report looks at only the simplest dimensions of project-financed research and examines research outcomes of only a few projects. Among conclusions tentatively reached: (1) more than 90 percent of PHN projects from fiscal years 1980-91 financed research. (2) Bank experience with project-financed research in the PHN sector has been extremely variable: quite successful in some countries and almost a total failure in others. Even so, some striking successes justify continued efforts to incorporate research into projects and to encourage use of that research to improve both national PHN policy and follow-on Bank financed projects. (3) Personalities make a difference, both among borrowers and within the Bank. Often successes are associated with a particular person within the government or the Bank who has taken a continuing personal interest in encouraging research. (4) Supervision is crucial to good results. Supervision must be frequent enough to keep the research component on time and of good quality. For quality research to be completed, it is important that those responsible for supervision attach a high priority to research even if it is not a large part of the project in terms of budget. (5) Research that leads to a project outcome - such as research needed to justify release of funds or for a follow-on project - is more likely to be undertaken and completed than is research with a more general objective. (6) In countries where the institutional capability exists, using a national institution to review research proposals and to administer research grants can be quite effective. Experience indicates that some sort of peer-group review produces better research. (7) There is probably room for more best-practices workshops where PHN staff can exchange experiences about successful design and supervision of project-financed research components. But usually it will be necessary to retain experienced consultants to help design substantial research components. (8) More systematic collection and dissemination of project-financed research is justified, given the considerable amounts of money and effort devoted to it.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,ICT Policy and Strategies,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Scientific Research&Science Parks

Economic analysis of World Bank education projects and project outcomes

Research reported in this paper tests the hypothesis that Bank education projects for which the project appraisal documents are judged"good"have a higher probability of leading to successful outcomes than projects for which the appraisals are judged"poor."The research draws on project document evaluations carried out between 1993 and 1998. Analysis shows a strong relationship between the quality of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis and the quality of project outcomes. Economic analysis of projects is a tool for weeding out potentially poor investments and selecting potentially worthwhile ones. The economic analysis can be used to select among alternative projects or to redesign project components so that they yield more and produce better outcomes. Good practice education projects require good economic analysis--analysis of demand, of the counterfactual private sector supply, of the project's fiscal impact, of lending fungibility--and strong sector work before project design.Curriculum&Instruction,Urban Services to the Poor,Poverty Assessment,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance

A decade of monitoring on Pool 26 of the upper Mississippi River System : water quality and fish data from the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Environmental Management Program

Abstract: We present information gleaned from 10 years of data collected by the water quality component of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Environmental Management Program’s Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) from Pool 26 of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). The Pool 26 reach of the UMRS includes the confluence with the Illinois River, and the confluence with the Missouri River just downstream of Mel Price Locks and Dam. The surrounding communities in both Illinois and Missouri benefit greatly from the natural resources provided by these rivers. We estimate that annual expenditures are $84 and$55 million for fishing and hunting, respectively, in the region surrounding Pool 26 based on license sales and state expenditure data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Additionally, there is a commercial fishery active in Pool 26, recreational boating, and the UMRS provides drinking water for many municipalities in this region. Finally, the Upper Mississippi River System is a major transportation system, and Pool 26 receives the greatest amount of barge traffic for any river reach in the UMRS. The LTRMP began collecting data in 1988, but the first years of the program were experimental. Currently followed monitoring protocols for water quality and fish monitoring were adopted in 1993; however, a major flood event in that year prevented full data collection for that year. Data from the LTRMP water quality component demonstrate that Pool 26 is a highly productive river reach. Long-term averages of chorophyll-a, total phosphorous, total nitrogen, and total inorganic solids are comparable to levels in eutrophic to highly eutrophic lakes. The average current velocity in the main channel of the Mississippi River in Pool 26 ranges from 0.364–0.414 m/sec. during the summer and fall. Even during the lowest discharge levels in a year, the reach has a residence time no longer than 2.7 days. Discharge was significantly related to many water quality parameters, including Secchi depth, turbidity, total suspended solids, total nitrogen, nitrate-nitrite, and total phosphorus. We observed a significant linear increase in mean water temperature in the main channel from 1994 to 2004. When these data were analyzed by season, positive linear trends were found during the spring (0.515°C per year) and fall (0.646°C per year). Continued monitoring is necessary to determine if these observations represent short term fluctuations or long-term trends and to detect any related effects on this river reach.is peer reviewe

Development of a Life History Database for Upper Mississippi River Fishes

This report summarizes the development of a life history database for Upper Mississippi River System fishes. It provides the rationale for its development within the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program, describes it, outlines standards for its development. and demonstrates how it can be linked to the LTRMP fisheries database and used to address a host of new questions relevant to management and science in the basin.U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District, Rock Island Clock Tower BuildingOpe

Preface- 1990

The Textile Society of America provides a forum for the exchange and dissemination of information about the historic, cultural, socio-economic, artistic, and technical aspects of textiles. One of the ways the society addresses this mission is in its biennial symposium and the promise of quick publication of the papers presented Although the name of the organization may suggest a Western Hemisphere orientation its membership is international and the topics for presentation global in their selection. The themes selected for the biennial symposium are weighed with a keen eye on their ability to provide a matrix for many disciplines-those of the historian, economist, art historian, anthropologist, and others. Certainly Textiles in Trade meets that requirement. Whether considered on a regional or global basis, whether assessed for economic or artistic importance or prized as historical evidence, textiles have been a currency and a commodity of exchange carrying with them a body of information to be perceived and interpreted. The papers herein reflect this diversity. The arrangement of the papers follows the chronology of presentation in the symposium and they are reproduced herein just as authors submitted them for duplication

Analisis Ekonomi Proyek-Proyek Pertanian

xxii.579 hal.;24 c

Economic analysis of agricultural projects/ Gittinger

xxi, 505 hal.: tab.; 24 cm

Analisa Ekonomi Proyek-Proyek Pertanian

xxiii.579 hal ill.23 c