Evaluating Transport Infrastructure Projects in Low Data Environments : An Application to Nigeria

Transport infrastructure consumes a large fraction of the development assistance envelope. Yet procedures for evaluating transport infrastructure projects are typically ad hoc. This paper proposes an approach to assess the differential impacts of alternative investment proposals in data constrained...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Russ, Jason, Berg, Claudia, Damania, Richard, Barra, A. Federico, Ali, Rubaba, Nash, John
Published: Taylor and Francis 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30142
Description
Summary:Transport infrastructure consumes a large fraction of the development assistance envelope. Yet procedures for evaluating transport infrastructure projects are typically ad hoc. This paper proposes an approach to assess the differential impacts of alternative investment proposals in data constrained environments where conducting reliable impact analyses is difficult. We first demonstrate a technique for estimating the cost of transporting products to markets. We then estimate the impact of improving the road network on economic activity. Finally, we perform simulations to demonstrate a methodology for prioritizing alternative investments. The analysis demonstrates a pragmatic, though rigorous, approach for assessing transport infrastructure benefits.