Cross-border Infrastructure Research Articles

Prelude to the “Great Hemorrhage”: French Canadians in the United States, 1775-1840

ABSTRACT Historians have traced the mass migration of French Canadians from the St. Lawrence River valley to the United States between the Civil War era and the Great Depression; to a lesser extent, scholars have also studied outmigration in the 1840s and 1850s. Closer scrutiny of available evidence suggests, however, that the roots of Lower Canada’s great demographic hemorrhage lie in the early decades of the nineteenth century. As cross-border infrastructure and commerce developed, French Canadians explored new opportunities in the northeastern United States and Great Lakes region. Demographic estimates, signs of an agricultural crisis, and contemporary sources all point to a migratory pattern that anticipated the grande saignée. Further research of this kind stands to change how scholars view not only French-Canadian mobility, but the extent of continental integration prior to the advent of railways.

Regional trade and economic cooperation along the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor

We analysed the characteristics of foreign trade for the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor’ regions. We also examined the commodity and geographic structure of exports and imports of the Economic Corridor regions: the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Mongolia, and the Baikal region of Russia. A large share of Russian and Mongolian exports is made up of raw materials, such as minerals, metals and their low value-added products. Products of the chemical industry, ferrous metals and their products prevail in the commodity structure of the export of Inner Mongolia. The priority in cooperation of these regions is to upgrade transport and cross-border infrastructure to increase transit potential in freight transportation along the planned China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor. Through the Economic Corridor project, these regions can significantly strengthen foreign economic cooperation.

Governance distance and the performance of cross-border private participation infrastructure projects

PurposeThe privatization of infrastructure promotes efficiency and service standards. While cross-border private participation infrastructure (PPI) projects hosted in emerging markets have become more prevalent in recent years, there have also been more failures. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how governance distance affects the survival of cross-border PPI projects.Design/methodology/approachThe authors provide theoretical justification and empirical evidence to verify our views. The authors test the hypotheses on a sample of 4,678 cross-border PPI project investments made in emerging market countries between 1990 and 2016. Estimation techniques consist of a binary logistic regression model and a rare events logistic model.FindingsThe findings suggest that increased governance distance can lead to project failure. The study results show that governance distance is negatively correlated with the probability of project survival. Greenfield investment intensifies the negative effect of governance distance while competitive contracts mitigate the negative effect of governance distance.Practical implicationsThe results reveal that transnational investment in infrastructure projects is susceptible to institutional differences between home and host countries. Therefore, both private enterprises and host government should pay attention to the impact of inter-country differences on negotiations and project operation. Competitive contracts mitigate this negative effect, but entering in the form of greenfield investment amplifies the negative effect of distance.Originality/valueTransnational industrial engineering projects are easily affected by the differences in governance levels between the two countries. This study introduces governance distance into the field of infrastructure projects, focusing on the impact of differences between home and host countries on transnational projects. The findings on infrastructure projects that are closely related to host government contribute to the literature by broadening the research of institution and distance.

Developmental regionalism and the success prospects of Africa’s continental free trade area (CFTA): lessons from Africa’s early integration experience

ABSTRACT This paper argues that Africa needs to adopt a more pragmatic approach to its regional integration agenda in order to increase the prospects of the objectives of the Continental Free Trade Area. The paper examines the political economy realities of Africa’s integration and highlights certain contextual challenges that have created a gap between the continent’s regional integration stated intentions and objectives as contained in the Abuja Treaty forming the African Economic Community (AEC) and the attainment of the identified integration milestones within the identified timeframes. The disparity between identified objectives and implementation realities requires that Africa should evaluate its chosen approach to integration before embarking upon another project like the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in order not to repeat the failures of the past. Such an evaluation should bring the continent to revisit its current disproportionate emphasis on market integration and pursuit of a trade liberalization agenda in favour of a developmental regionalism approach to integration. A developmental regionalism approach is one that seeks to promote mutually beneficial trade amongst African Union member states while placing an equal amount of emphasis on industrial development and the upgrading of regional value chains that are a prerequisite for transformative industrialization. For the CFTA to succeed, Africa would need to place much emphasis on cooperation on cross border infrastructure investment and development, while continuing its efforts aimed at the harmonisation of standards and related trade facilitation measures. This change of emphasis to adopt a developmental regionalism approach it is argued would yield greater developmental benefits and increase the success prospects of the CFTA.

Trans-Himalayan connectivity and sustainable tourism development in Nepal: a study of community perceptions of tourism impacts along the Nepal–China Friendship Highway

ABSTRACT With the introduction of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the government of Nepal has agreed to develop links with China through the development of cross-border infrastructure such as railway and road networks. It is assumed that increased trans-Himalayan connectivity will bring new dynamics to the socioeconomic development of communities, and tourism is one of the significant factors behind the acceleration of such developments. Improved connectivity promotes accessibility, economic activity, and local development, along with increased tourism development. Most settlements along the Nepal–China Friendship Highway are expected to experience an increase in economic activity, tourism, and local development. In this regard, considering the cases of Dhulikhel and Banepa, key towns on the Nepal–China Friendship Highway, this research aims to explore the various impacts of transport infrastructure on tourism development and associated aspects of tourist destinations. Multiple methods of data collection, including interviews with key informants, questionnaire surveys, participant observations, and archival research have been adopted. Perceived impacts reveal positive and negative effects on infrastructure and tourism and to local communities. It is envisaged that integrated policies of sustainable tourism development and transport infrastructure should be in place.

Errata to the articles: “Enhancing the efficiency of infrastructure projects to improve access to finance” and “Attracting private financing in cross-border infrastructure investments”

Errata to the articles: “Enhancing the efficiency of infrastructure projects to improve access to finance” and “Attracting private financing in cross-border infrastructure investments”

China — Mongolia — Russia Economic Corridor Program: Problems and Prospects for Implementation

The 100-th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia, which the two neighboring countries will celebrate on November 5, 2021, gives a serious reason to assess the current state of bilateral cooperation, existing problems and prospects for its development. In recent years, the issues of intensification of Russian-Mongolian relations have been considered in the context of the trilateral «Program for the creation of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor». Despite the lack of concrete results within the framework of this program, the implementation of a number of infrastructure projects is being prepared, which will seriously strengthen the economic base of cooperation between Russia and Mongolia and China. The paper analyzes the problematic issues of the implementation of plans for the development of transport and energy infrastructure through Mongolia, which are considered as the basis for trilateral cooperation. Particular attention is paid to plans for the development of the railway network. The promising directions for the development of cross-border infrastructure in the framework of the program for the creation of the Mongolian corridor are identified.

Attracting private financing in cross-border infrastructure investments

Cross-border infrastructure projects offer significant economic and social benefits for the Asia-Pacific region. If the required investment of $8 trillion in pan-Asian connectivity was made in the region’s infrastructure during 2010–2020, the total net income gains for developing Asia could reach about $12.98 trillion (in 2008 US dollars) during 2010–2020 and beyond, of which more than $4.43 trillion would be gained during 2010–2020 and nearly $8.55 trillion after 2020. Indeed, infrastructure connectivity helps improve regional productivity and competitiveness by facilitating the movement of goods, services and human resources, producing economies of scale, promoting trade and foreign direct investments, creating new business opportunities, stimulating inclusive industrialization and narrowing development gaps between communities, countries or sub-regions. Unfortunately, due to limited financing, progress in the development of cross-border infrastructure in the region is low.This paper examines the key challenges faced in financing cross-border projects and discusses the roles that different stakeholders—national governments, state-owned enterprises, private sector, regional entities, development financing institutions (DFIs), affected people and civil society organizations—can play in facilitating the development of cross-border infrastructure in the region. In particular, this paper highlights the major risks that deter private sector investments and FDIs and provides recommendations to address these risks.

INSPIRE standards as a framework for artificial intelligence applications: a landslide example

Abstract. This study presents a landslide susceptibility map using an artificial intelligence (AI) approach based on standards set by the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) framework. INSPIRE is a European Union spatial data infrastructure (SDI) initiative to standardize spatial data across borders to ensure interoperability for management of cross-border infrastructure and environmental issues. However, despite the theoretical effectiveness of the SDI, few real-world applications make use of INSPIRE standards. In this study, we show how INSPIRE standards enhance the interoperability of geospatial data and enable deeper knowledge development for their interpretation and explainability in AI applications. We designed an ontology of landslides, embedded with INSPIRE vocabularies, and then aligned geology, stream network, and land cover datasets covering the Veneto region of Italy to the standards. INSPIRE was formally extended to include an extensive landslide type code list, a landslide size code list, and the concept of landslide susceptibility to describe map application inputs and outputs. Using the terms in the ontology, we defined conceptual scientific models of areas likely to generate different types of landslides as well as map polygons representing the land surface. Both landslide models and map polygons were encoded as semantic networks and, by qualitative probabilistic comparison between the two, a similarity score was assigned. The score was then used as a proxy for landslide susceptibility and displayed in a web map application. The use of INSPIRE-standardized vocabularies in ontologies that express scientific models promotes the adoption of the standards across the European Union and globally. Further, this application facilitates the explanation of the generated results. We conclude that public and private organizations, within and outside the European Union, can enhance the value of their data by making them INSPIRE-compliant for use in AI applications.

The State Border between China and Russia: Permeability and Barriers for International Cooperation

The length of the state border between China and Russia within the territory of the Far East Federal District is more than 4 thousand km. The border has various functions. The contact function of the border is to stimulate economic interactions between countries. The border regions of the two countries benefit from international trade. The contact function is characterised by the permeability of the border. The barrier function of the border is to limit interactions between countries. Restrictions on the free movement of goods, labour resources, tourist flows, and capital are applied. The purpose of the study is to assess the elements of the contact function of the state border between China and Russia. The subject is functioning of the border in the Far East Federal District. The study used methods of economic geography and regional economics. As a result, the indicators of the border permeability between the Russian Far East and China (physical permeability, the density of cross-border infrastructure) were calculated. The characteristics of institutional conditions, such as the speed of customs clearance and the use of digital technologies in paperwork are presented. The conclusion about the low permeability of the border between China and Russia in the territory of the Far East Federal District is made. The directions for increasing the contact function of the border are formulated. The research results can be used to develop directions for the improvement of cross-border relations between Russia and China

Dissimilarities between the national cost/benefit models of road projects: Comparing appraisals in Nordic countries

The Nordic Council has a vision to create the most integrated region globally by 2030. Nevertheless, Nordic cross-border infrastructure projects are generally developed by each nation individually. Joint Nordic infrastructure planning is thus fragmented. An example of this, as reported herein, is how road projects are assessed by the infrastructure planning authorities in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, the latter to which is included in the comparison for the first time. In each country, cost/benefit analyses (CBAs) are used. In each nation, the monetary values of changes in travel time, accidents, and environmental externalities are estimated. We then apply those values to the three national CBA models to assess an illustrative hypothetical road project. Theoretically, the models should provide similar outcomes when using a common set of parameters. Instead, we show that the choice of national model is crucial to the outcome. The Swedish model, for example, generates a higher cost of travel time than the other models irrespective of the nation from which we choose the parameters. Consequently, CBA-based assessments in the Nordic area depend strongly on the model applied and peculiarities in its coding. Finally, we discuss the policy implications of our findings for appraising national and Nordic projects.

ANALYSIS OF THE BRI AND CHINA’S OFDI IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) has been launched by the Chinese government in 2013. The aim was to stimulate cross-border economic development in massive geographical areas covering Asia, Oceania, Europe, Africa, and Latin America which accounts for 80% and 40% of the world population and gross domestic product (GDP), respectively. The BRI has devised an extension of the “going global” strategy to reconfigure China’s overseas sector in order to extend its spillovers, and create more development opportunities for participating countries. In practice, cross-border infrastructure was a comprehensive role to reduce transportation cost; however, the BRI was vast by nature that includes financial support, policy cooperation, investment, trade facilitation, and people-to-people exchanges for the humanitarian strategy. Against this backdrop, the overarching objective of this study was to analyze the impact of the BRI and Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on the bilateral trade between China and Sub-Saharan Africa countries. The investigation was carried out using a trade gravity model, balanced panel dataset, and multivariate regression estimation strategy for robustness checks covering 16 years. The result showed that Chinese OFDI, home, and host country’s GDP and GDP per capita income variables have a positive and statistically significant impact on the bilateral trade. Moreover, the BRI has explained positively on the bilateral trade; however, it does not have enough evidence to stimulate significantly, and it usually takes a long time for the effects of the BRI investment on trade and OFDI. The study also found that geographical distance and official exchange rates have explained negatively and statistically significant impact on the bilateral trade.

Scenarios for the Development of Multimodal Transport in the TRITIA Cross-Border Area

As the demand for transport is growing, more and more attention is being paid to its quality aspects. These include, among other things, efficiency, safety, and a continuous effort to reduce external costs. That is why the transport policies of the EU countries and individual regions are increasingly addressing the issue of sustainable transport development. Multimodal transport, which is seen as a key element to effectively counterbalance the dominant role of vehicle transport in the economic progress of the European Community, plays an important role in these programmes. For consistency and continuity of freight flows, cooperation between neighbouring countries and regions is essential. The future of multimodal freight transport within the cross-border area of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia is not as evident as the transport policies imply. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to identify a set of factors determining the development of multimodal transport within the cross-border area of TRITIA (The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation of the four regional governments of Moravian-Silesian Region (CZ), Opole Voivodeship (PL), Silesian Voivodeship (PL) and Žilina Self-governing Region (SK)) and to develop four scenarios, the execution of which in the 2030 perspective depends on the implementation of cross-border infrastructure and organisational projects and the increasing level of cooperation in the field of multimodal transport. The article contains the methodology for developing scenarios of multimodal freight transport development. The research showed that initiating activities targeted at the development of multimodal transport within the cross-border area requires the involvement of all participants in the process, i.e., all countries (Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia), along with many different stakeholders. The future development of multimodal transport as provided for in the scenarios is not linearly correlated with the increase in cooperation and the number of implemented infrastructure and organisational projects. It is vital for future research to define the role of stakeholders both in terms of cooperation and collaboration development.

Роль кордону та прикордоння в польсько-українських відносинах

У статті наведено аналіз проблеми функціонування прикордоння, як окремої форми співпраці між країнами. Базою для дослідження виступили праці польських науковців з окресленням основних аспектів такого співробітництва на прикладі Польщі та України. Тип прикордонного регіону кожної країни залежить від характеру кордону, біля якого він знаходиться, та політичного режиму країни з якою він межує. Важливим питанням окреслення прикордонного регіону є його віддаленість від кордону та встановлення його меж в географічній чи адміністративній площині. Транскордонна співпраця між Польщею та Україною відбувається в рамках так званого польсько-українського транскордонного регіону. Найчастіше даний регіон окреслюється в межах адміністративного поділу держав, зокрема це Люблінське та Підкарпатське воєводства в Польщі та Волинська, Львівська та Закарпатська області України. Основними характеристиками транскордонного регіону є специфічна, притаманна лише йому, регіональна форма економічної, історично-суспільної, транскордонної співпраці та транскордонна інфраструктура.

Dimitris Dalakoglou, The Road: An Ethnography of (Im)mobility, Space, and Cross-Border Infrastructures in the Balkans

L’ouvrage de Dimitris Dalakoglou, The Road, propose une approche originale de l’etude des relations sociales en Albanie post-socialiste au travers d’une ethnographie des relations et pratiques se nouant autour d’une autoroute de 29 kilometres entre la ville de Girokaster et le poste-frontiere de Kakavije, constituant la jonction principale entre le sud du pays et la Grece voisine. En concentrant son attention sur le reseau compose par l’autoroute, la frontiere, et les rues de la ville de Giro...

The Need for the Right Socio-Economic and Cultural Fit in the COVID-19 Response in Sub-Saharan Africa: Examining Demographic, Economic Political, Health, and Socio-Cultural Differentials in COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread quickly across the globe with devastating effects on the global economy as well as the regional and societies’ socio-economic fabrics and the way of life for vast populations. The nonhomogeneous continent faces local contextual complexities that require locally relevant and culturally appropriate COVID-19 interventions. This paper examines demographic, economic, political, health, and socio-cultural differentials in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. The health systems need to be strengthened through extending the health workforce by mobilizing and engaging the diaspora, and implementing the International Health Regulations (2005) core capacities. In the absence of adequate social protection and welfare programs targeting the poor during the pandemic, sub-Saharan African countries need to put in place flexible but effective policies and legislation approaches that harness and formalise the informal trade and remove supply chain barriers. This could include strengthening cross-border trade facilities such as adequate pro-poor, gender-sensitive, and streamlined cross-border customs, tax regimes, and information flow. The emphasis should be on cross-border infrastructure that not only facilitates trade through efficient border administration but can also effectively manage cross-border health threats. There is an urgent need to strengthen social protection systems to make them responsive to crises, and embed them within human rights-based approaches to better support vulnerable populations and enact health and social security benefits. The COVI-19 response needs to adhere to the well-established ‘do no harm’ principle to prevent further damage or suffering as a result of the pandemic and examined through local lenses to inform peace-building initiatives that may yield long-term gains in the post-COVID-19 recovery efforts.

The politics of the temporary: Tanzanian local content in the East African crude oil pipeline

This paper examines the spatio-temporalities of the implementation of local content policies on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline by the Tanzanian Government. Costing $3.5 billion and spanning Uganda and Tanzania, the pipeline is one of the largest cross-border infrastructure projects in the history of East Africa and has presented both countries an opportunity to enhance local content policies in the hydrocarbon sector. It has also presented a unique project to study the temporalities of local content. With the majority of investment expected to occur in the construction phase that is estimated to be completed in two to three years, there appears to be a short term ‘window of opportunity’ for companies and labour alike to participate. Focusing solely on the Tanzanian portion of the pipeline and using fieldwork in Dar es Salaam and Tanga from June 2017 to August 2018, before the suspension of the project, this paper argues that the temporary nature of EACOP resulted in the construction of urgencies to establish a comprehensive local content sector. The result of this is one of multiple paces, and a division on what local content entails based on geography.

Collateral Conversion in Cross-Border Infrastructure Financing Projects

Due to its geographical position, and also because of the potential integration of the Western Balkans economies into the European single market in the near future, in recent years, important and legally challenging cross-border infrastructure projects have taken and will continue to take place in Albania. These complex projects, such as the construction of railways, gas and oil pipelines and others, are challenging to finance, not to mention the legal challenges they face including the occupation of construction sites and easement. Above all, providing collateral is a crucial factor in increasing the chances of successfully financing, implementing, and completing these projects; particularly where in such projects the assets themselves used as collateral are purchased, created, and built during the implementation phase. In this article I will address some Albanian legal issues to be considered in the process of legal assessment of the quality and provision of collateral in financing of cross-border infrastructure projects. Specifically, I will address some specific legal issues associated with the conversion of collateral. The need for this analysis arises from the challenges involved in implementing such projects in Albania and also from the need to recognize the compatibility of the legal provisions and their applicability in different jurisdictions. Especially when the same pool of lenders are available for the companies building and developing the relevant infrastructure networks in multiple cross-border states. Below, I have itemized the key issues to consider when seeking to secure such financing.

Illiberal Governance and the Rise of China's Public Firms: An Oxymoron or China's Greatest Triumph?

The early 21st century will be remembered for its shift in global economic power dynamics. In the past two decades, the Chinese government has fostered the growth of many of the world’s most valuable firms, advanced complete integration of Chinese companies in global supply chains, and positioned its firms as key players in cross-border infrastructure and investment transactions. Perhaps even more striking is the speed of China’s capital market growth. It took merely three decades for China’s capital market to advance as the world’s second most meaningful market. Chinese firms—many of which are subject to an illiberal, political governance—are increasingly integrated with global financial markets, attracting domestic and foreign public investors. Neither state ownership and control, political influence, or weakly functioning legal institutions stand in the way of these firms’ access to capital. Such reality challenges law and development theories and notions of corporate governance best practices. This Article discusses the puzzling allure of Chinese public firms to external suppliers of capital while illuminating the functions of illiberal governance through the Chinese state’s and Communist Party capacities within firms. It argues that Chinese public firms were able to grow and expand, attracting external finance, not despite the function of “bad” corporate governance institutions but because of them. The Article shows how alongside its many obstructions, China’s illiberal governance system plays an important role in promoting market regularity, providing investors with the assurances necessary to secure the flow of external finance. Against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade war and calls for economic decoupling, policymakers are trying to comprehend the various implications of China’s rising powers while considering appropriate regulatory and policy responses. Yet while aspects of trade, national security, and labor carry the headlines, corporate governance is largely missing from the discussion. Only now, as a result of escalating geopolitical wariness, Congress and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have extended efforts to grapple with corporate governance aspects as well. This Article supports such recent intentions. It examines the implications of China’s illiberal corporate governance for global investors and assesses recent policy developments while pointing to the potential fallacies of adhering to conventional notions of corporate ownership and control. * Please refer to the published Article for the final version.

Chinese and Russian transport corridors and the belt and road initiative: prospects of Sino-Russian cooperation

Relevance. The article discusses mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the role of Russia as a key link between China and the Eurasian Economic Union. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for a comprehensive analysis of the current state of transport cooperation between the countries with shared borders (Russia and China) and on a more global level. It is especially important to identify the priority areas of intergovernmental cooperation in the transportation sphere. Research objective. The study is aimed at evaluating the prospects of Sino-Russian transport cooperation in connection with the Belt and Road Initiative. Data and methods. For comparative analysis, we use qualitative and quantitative indicators to consider the current state of Sino-Russian cooperation. Our research draws from the official statistical data of Russia and China and from the findings of the previous studies. Results. The research has shown that there is a steady trend for integration of Russian and Chinese crossborder infrastructure. In particular, the Economic Corridor China-Mongolia-Russia relies on the expansion and modernization of the railway and highway infrastructure. Conclusions . The connection of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union will contribute to transport cooperation between China and Russia. Sino-Russian transport cooperation will develop not only on the state level but also on regional and local levels. The Belt and Road Initiative will enable Russia and China unite their transport infrastructure into a single network. Apart from the transport infrastructure, Sino-Russian cooperation also encompasses other aspects, such as training of specialists in logistics and transportation technologies.