Private Infrastructure Development Research Articles

Adaptation in a Resource-Based Economy in the Northern Great Plains

In this article, we present a stark depiction of the growth and decline of a resource-dependent prairie region in southwest Saskatchewan, part of the northern Great Plains. Canada’s national development policy at the turn of the 20th century with respect to the region was comprised of immigration incentivized by the Dominion Lands Act which awarded homesteads to European immigrants, the building of a national railroad, and trade protection for eastern manufacturers. The resulting rapid population growth from about 1911 to 1921 in the region spawned a network of rural communities and public and private infrastructure development. However, the rapid growth was especially short-lived in our study area, spanning about 10 to 15 years, followed by more or less continuous decline. The spatial equilibrium framework suggests that the population more or less catapulted into the study area by what turned out to be poorly conceived government policy, and would subsequently exit in large measure, having encountered relatively unfavorable employment and income prospects. Their large-scale exit, as a primary adaptation strategy, would continue until local per capita economic conditions are restored to provincial levels. Per capita incomes and other economic indicators in the study area suggest that out-migration has indeed served this equilibrating function.

Bombardier and the Gautrain Project in South Africa: The Political Economy of Canadian Investment in a Rapid Rail Megaproject

David P. Thomas’s “Bombardier and the Gautrain Project in South Africa: The Political Economy of Canadian Investment in a Rapid Rail Megaproject” analyzes the Gautrain rail project, a Public-Private Partnership (P3) between the Canadian corporation Bombardier and the South African government. Following David Harvey, the author argues that this form of private infrastructure development represents a case of “accumulation by dispossession” because it channels public money into a rail project that will mostly benefit Canadian capitalists (Bombardier) and African elites. The article challenges us to think of mobility-related issues when analyzing the exclusionary effects of capital-intensive development projects.

Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure Development: A Non-Resident Infrastructure Fund in Bangladesh

Infrastructure is considered as the engine of growth for an economy with possibilities of high return for the investors. However, in Bangladesh the infrastructure sector has been suffering a lot due to fund shortage. Bangladesh is one of the highest remittance recipient countries in the world, but the current saving schemes of the country are not enough to attract the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB). In this situation, an NRB Infrastructure Fund (NIF) can be established, where NRBs will invest in private infrastructure projects like toll roads, private power plant, land and seaport etc. In 2004, the Government prepared the Private Sector Infrastructure Guidelines (PSIG) that emphasized formation of NRB funds for infrastructure sectors. Except for three general mutual funds for NRB under Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), there has been no other initiative. The viability of the fund remains far below the expectations. This paper proposes an NRB fund for private infrastructure development with option to trade the shares in the local market. The fund will be used for a longer period of time in the company in compliance with the infrastructure project parameters. The paper also provides some technical and commercial proposals for forming such a fund in the country and examines its impacts on the economy as a whole.

Investment Opportunities in Korean Private Infrastructure Projects

Private infrastructure development in Korea is facing an important turning point. Recently enacted laws and subsequent governmental arrangements have made a revolutionary change in the investment environment. This new environment along with newly apparent investment potential in North Korea is expected to provide meaningful opportunities for foreign investors. Despite the revolutionary change, there still remain problems and regulations that need careful reconsideration. This article recommends several remedies.

Private Infrastructure Development in Asia

Private Infrastructure Development in Asia

An Economic Regulatory Policy Analysis of Private Sector Participated Infrastructure Projects

The aim of economic regulatory policy in private infrastructure development is to protect utility users while ensuring that private concessionaires have incentives to develop and operate infrastructure projects more efficiently. Setting an adequate governance by economic regulation is very important because when the regulatory control is too lax, users will have to bear the risk of higher prices. Contrarily, excessive control may cause reluctance of the private sector to participate in infrastructure development. This paper discusses three alternatives in economic regulation: Price regulation, ROR (rate of return) regulation, and No regulation. It analyzes both the incentive effects to improve efficiency and the degree of risk to which concessionaires are exposed under the different economic governance. Finally, it makes suggestion for improving economic regulation in developing countries.

Implementation of Private Infrastructure Development Methods in China

For this introductory paper on the implementation of private infrastructure development methods in the People's Republic of China, the author defines three time periods:“The Beginning”-from 1987 to 1995:“The Present”-from 1995 to 1998 and “The Future”-from July 1998 onwards.“The Beginning” is characterized by arelatively small number of projects centered in the economically advanced province of Guangdong. The the field of participants is led by a small number of pioneering Hong Kong property developers.“The Present” period, from 1995 to July 1998. features a rapidly growing number of participants in the industry, with international utilities, engineering firms, and investment funds adding to the Hong Kong developers. The geographical scope of private infrastructure development in China also expands to include all of the coastal provinces. Finally, the style of project structure as well as the legal and regulatory framework for private participation in infrastructure begins to expand during thisperiod, with government bodies as well as private developers experimenting with new project structures and legislation.Finally, “The Future” looks at the direction of private participation in the development of infrastructure in China, and is based on current trends, including: increasing sophistication, growing competition and rising costs in the coastal regions; shift of central government emphasis to inland investment; establishment of new laws governing private infrastructure participation; and rapidly changing conditions in both international and domestic financial markets.