This study examines impacts on net social benefits or economic welfare of alternative policy instruments for reducing traffic congestion and atmospheric emissions in São Paulo, Brazil. The study shows that expanding road networks, subsidizing public transit, and improving automobile fuel economy may not be as effective as suggested by economic theories because these policies could cause significant rebound effects. Although pricing instruments such as congestion tolls and fuel taxes would certainly reduce congestion and emissions, the optimal level of these instruments would steeply increase the monetary cost of travel per trip and are therefore politically difficult to implement. However, a noticeable finding is that even smaller tolls, which are more likely to be politically acceptable, have substantial benefits in terms of reducing congestion and emissions. Among the various policy instruments examined in the study, the most socially preferable policy option for São Paulo would be to introduce a mix of congestion toll and fuel taxes on automobiles and use the revenues to improve public transit systems.
Brazil, China and India have seen falling poverty in their reform periods, but to varying degrees and for different reasons. History left China with favorable initial conditions for rapid poverty reduction through market-led economic growth; at the outset of the reform process there were ample distortions to remove and relatively low inequality in access to the opportunities so created, though inequality has risen markedly since. By concentrating such opportunities in the hands of the better off, prior inequalities in various dimensions handicapped poverty reduction in both Brazil and India. Brazil?s recent success in complementing market-oriented reforms with progressive social policies has helped it achieve more rapid poverty reduction than India, although Brazil has been less successful in terms of economic growth. In the wake of its steep rise in inequality, China might learn from Brazil?s success with such policies. India needs to do more to assure that poor people are able to participate in both the country?s growth process and its social policies; here there are lessons from both China and Brazil. All three countries have learned how important macroeconomic stability is to poverty reduction.
The Status of Projects in Execution (SOPE) report for FY09 provides information on all International Bank and Rural Development (IBRD)/International Development Association (IDA) projects that were active on June 30, 2009. The report is intended to bridge the gap in information available to the public between the project appraisal document, disclosed after the Bank approves a project, and the implementation completion report, disclosed after the project closes. In addition to the project progress description, the FY09 SOPE report contains project level comparisons of disbursement estimates and actual disbursements, and a table showing the loan/credit/grant amount and disbursements to date for all active projects.
Ratings for the Parana Biodiversity Project for Brazil were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to global environment outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory. Some lessons learned included: the success of the project, even considering the difficulties that emerged along its development, strongly suggests that there is an added value in trying to promote this innovative approach. Moreover, it could be further expanded by including more government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with different, complementary profiles, the academic and research, as well as other relevant sectors of the civil society. Even if challenging and difficult to implement, developing a better and wider coordination and integration between government sectors and other non-governmental institutions is becoming an urgent need in face of the growing environmental problems that affect the whole planet. Given its innovative and somewhat experimental nature, it is important to bear in mind that even errors, difficulties and unexpected outcomes resulting from this project provide very useful experience and insight applicable to future projects of similar intersectoral and transversal nature. Problems related with project administration that emerged along this project suggest that as projects become more complex and intersectoral; conflicts of this nature are more likely to arise. Therefore, it will be important in future projects to resource to all the available mechanisms that may contribute to eliminate beforehand as many potential difficulties of this kind as possible. At the time when the project was planned, the State Government of Parana had showed a strong commitment and support for environmental protection. Accordingly, the project was designed under the assumption that the State authorities will support innovative approaches and their effective implementation. After elections in 2002 the new authorities did not embrace the government commitment with the same emphasis. As a result, project implementation suffered both administrative delays and changes in priorities that affected the normal development of planned activities in several components.
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