nep-ppm New Economics Papers
on Project, Program and Portfolio Management
Issue of 2025–03–31
twelve papers chosen by
Arvi Kuura, Tartu Ülikool


  1. Chinese Contractors and Development Project Quality By Charles Kenny; Songtao Duan; Zack Gehan
  2. How to Unlock Pipelines of Bankable Renewable Energy Projects in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries? By ESMAP
  3. Drivers of Delays in Procurement of Infrastructure Projects By World Bank
  4. Leveraging Private Sector Solutions in Large Hydropower Projects By Energy Sector Management Assistance Program
  5. Project Development Funds (PDFs) By World Bank Group
  6. Mainstreaming Universal Accessibility in Urban Infrastructure Projects in Yemen By World Bank
  7. BikewaySim Expected to Improve Bicycle Infrastructure Planning Process By Passmore, Reid; Guensler, Randall; Watkins, Kari E
  8. Jobs generated by the Kosovo Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Project By Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
  9. Jobs Generated by the Second Rural Electrification Project in Peru By Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
  10. Human Capital Development in Africa By Pritchett, Lant; Behrman, Jere R.; Mwabu, Germano; Lucas, Adrienne; Ipapa, Gerald
  11. Jobs Generated by the Kosovo Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Project - Job Creation Potential of the Clean Energy Transition By Zuzana Dobrotková; Anna Aghababyan; Anders Pedersen; Sheoli Pargal
  12. The future spatial distribution of onshore wind energy capacity based on a probabilistic investment calculus By Yannik Pflugfelder; Christoph Weber

  1. By: Charles Kenny (Center for Global Development); Songtao Duan (Center for Global Development); Zack Gehan (Center for Global Development)
    Abstract: This paper tests the hypothesis that the growing proportion of World Bank contracts granted to Chinese firms, particularly in the infrastructure sector, may undermine results by exposing projects to lower standards of work. We find that such concerns are unfounded. We create a dataset of World Bank projects that merges data on contracts under the project and project features and outcomes. We examine the association between contracting features and outcomes including the proportion of contract values awarded to non-borrower firms from major supplier countries. We find that the share of project contract value awarded to Chinese firms is not a correlate with better or worse project outcomes. More broadly, borrower country features explain some variance in outcomes but indicators including sector, year, the proportion of contracts awarded competitively, and the proportion that are for goods or civil works have little explanatory value. This (non-causal) evidence is consistent with the idea that World Bank procurement rules broadly work to ensure poor contracting choices are not a major determinant of project outcomes.
    Date: 2025–03–18
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:715
  2. By: ESMAP
    Keywords: Energy-Renewable Energy Environment-Adaptation to Climate Change Finance and Financial Sector Development-Access to Finance
    Date: 2024–06
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41645
  3. By: World Bank
    Keywords: International Economics and Trade-Government Procurement Infrastructure Economics and Finance-Infrastructure Economics
    Date: 2024–07
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41978
  4. By: Energy Sector Management Assistance Program
    Keywords: Energy-Hydro Power Energy-Renewable Energy
    Date: 2024–11
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:42375
  5. By: World Bank Group
    Keywords: Infrastructure Economics and Finance-Infrastructure Finance Infrastructure Economics and Finance-Private Participation in Infrastructure Finance and Financial Sector Development-Public & Municipal Finance
    Date: 2024–06
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41647
  6. By: World Bank
    Keywords: Social Protections and Labor-Disability Urban Development Poverty Reduction-Inequality Poverty Reduction-Poverty and Health Social Protections and Labor-Social Protections & Assistance
    Date: 2024–05
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41526
  7. By: Passmore, Reid; Guensler, Randall; Watkins, Kari E
    Abstract: Many US cities aim to increase environmentally sustainable modes of transportation, such as cycling or public transit. However, the current built environment in many of these cities does not adequately support cyclists or public transit riders. Bicycle infrastructure can minimize cyclists’ exposure to high-speed automobile traffic and increase the actual and perceived safety of cycling. Bicycle infrastructure can also potentially improve connections to public transit stops and stations. However, planners lack the tools to effectively measure where bicycle infrastructure improvements will yield the best outcomes. New research from Georgia Tech addresses this problem by developing two new modeling tools, BikewaySim and TransitSim, to assess how bicycle infrastructure can affect cycling and public transit access. Using BikewaySim, the researchers modeled over 28, 000 potential cycling trips, calculating the impacts of two proposed cycling infrastructure projects in Atlanta, Georgia. Using TransitSim, the researchers modeled combined cycling and transit trips from four distinct locations in Atlanta, Georgia. This brief summarizes the findings from that research. View the NCST Project Webpage
    Keywords: Social and Behavioral Sciences, Bicycle lanes, bicycling, bikeways, public transit, shortest path algorithms, simulation, travel time
    Date: 2025–03–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt87k1w46r
  8. By: Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    Keywords: Energy-Renewable Energy Social Protections and Labor-Labor Markets
    Date: 2024–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41262
  9. By: Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
    Keywords: Energy-Electric Power Rural Development-Rural and Renewable Energy Rural Development-Rural Labor Markets
    Date: 2024–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:40952
  10. By: Pritchett, Lant; Behrman, Jere R.; Mwabu, Germano; Lucas, Adrienne; Ipapa, Gerald
    Abstract: The collaborative research project on Human Capital Development in Africa sought to generate evidence on the challenges of building human capital for accelerated inclusive development as well as address key constraints on human capital accumulation, such as weak public financial management (PFM) and service delivery systems (SDM). In addition, this collaborative research project sought to provide policy reforms that would enable Africas young people to grow up with optimal health and equipped with the right skills to compete in the digitizing global economy. The project involved both framework papers and country case studies. The framework papers sought to investigate broad, and crosscutting issues around human capital development to improve the capability of the continent (and its policy makers) to confront human capital development challenges, and leverage the opportunities they present, as it confronts its development challenges. The country case studies sought to inform policy makers and development practitioners on human capital development in Africa from the viewpoint of individual countries and/or sub-regions s (or group of countries). To assist policy makers and other actors improve generation and management of knowledge on Africas human capital and address key constraints on human capital accumulation, such as weak public financial management (PFM) and service delivery systems (SDS), the AERC intends to disseminate the findings from the above studies to senior African policy makers through its flagship dissemination vehicle, the Senior Policy Seminar (SPS)
    Date: 2024–04–10
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aer:wpaper:0bbf57d3-4c24-4b1d-b4fc-a46d2464df3c
  11. By: Zuzana Dobrotková; Anna Aghababyan; Anders Pedersen; Sheoli Pargal
    Keywords: Environment-Environment and Energy Efficiency Environment-Environmental Management Social Protections and Labor-Labor Policies Private Sector Development
    Date: 2024–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:41242
  12. By: Yannik Pflugfelder; Christoph Weber (Chair for Management Sciences and Energy Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen)
    Abstract: The spatial distribution of future renewable capacities is a key determinant for developing appropriate grid expansion plans. This is particularly relevant for onshore wind energy. Existing studiesmostly extrapolate future installations based on existing capacities and available sites. As wind farm projects are developed mainly by private investors, the economic rationale of investing at specific sites deserves more attention. Therefore, the present contribution develops a model of economic choice for wind investments based on site-specific computations of the achievable net present value, taking into consideration the land availability at the regional level. Therefore, sitespecific investment decisions are modeled as (partly aggregated) discrete choices. The net present value is computed from investment costs and expected yields, which can be estimated based on wind speed time series and power curves. Available land can be identified by excluding settlement, infrastructure, and nature conservation areas with appropriate buffers, as well as sites with topographically unsuitable profiles. The model is formulated as a nested logit model that captures the interdependencies between choices on two levels: the probability of investment in a particular region on the first level and the probability of installing a specific turbine type on the second level. In an application for Germany with the target capacities of the German Renewable Energy Act, the model delivers a spatial distribution of the capacities at the NUTS 3 level. The model also enables the derivation of the necessary compensation level and the most frequently installed turbine types.
    Keywords: wind energy, regionalization models, renewable energy sources, nested logit model
    JEL: Q42 Q48 C35 R58
    Date: 2025–01
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dui:wpaper:2501

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