MDB-Sponsored Regional Workshops to

Mainstream Gender Equality in

Infrastructure Policies and ProjectsMarch 22-24, 2011

Hippolyte Fofack

The World Bank Group

Infrastructure, Gender Equality

and Development: Overview of

Challenges and Analytical Issues

2

Outline

Background and context;

Objectives

Dynamics of growth and development in a context of infrastructure crisis;

Infrastructure and growth: Possible transmission channels under the new engendered growth model;

Analytical issues;

Perspectives;

Background and context

Persistence of poverty and high vulnerability of

countries to adverse shocks;

In the past, commodity price volatility led to

balance of payment crisis and growing

external imbalances;

The accumulation of external liabilities in

response to BoP crises resulted in debt

overhang, with adverse effects on public

capital accumulation and infrastructure;

3

More recently, the vulnerability of

African countries was further highlighted

by the effects of the global financial

crisis;

In the process African countries, and

especially the most vulnerable one

became the collateral damage of US

subprime crisis;

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Poor state of Africa’s infrastructure and

growing infrastructure gap between Africa and

other regions of the developing world;

Yes indeed, the Africa infrastructure crisis is

real, widespread and profound;

For instance, the overwhelming majority of

countries is affected by the energy crisis;

Energy and power crisis in Nigeria;

Energy and power crisis in Senegal;

In some cases, the crisis has been going on for

decades;

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At the same time, empirical evidence are

increasingly showing that projects which integrate

gender considerations have higher chances of

meeting their underlying development

objectives…

…suggesting that integrating gender in

investment projects may increase their benefits in

terms of growth and economic development;

Still, the context is also dominated by analytical

gaps on gender and development;

The questions ―how‖ and ―why‖ gender equality

matters for development are not yet settled;

Addressing these gap is one of the key objectives of

WDR 2012 on “Gender Equity and Development‖ 7

Objectives of the presentation

Contrast Africa and other regions of the

developing world on the infrastructure ladder …

…and highlight the implications of infrastructure

gaps for growth and economic development;

Provide an overview of the possible transmission

channels from infrastructure to growth;

Discuss how the transmission channels are

evolving, with the increasing attention to gender

issues and considerations, and highlight

possible challenges and implications;

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Dynamics of growth under infrastructure

crisis in Africa

Africa’s growth and development prospects were

seen as superior to those of the overpopulated

Asia by many experts;

This view was particularly well captured by

Gunnar Myrdal in the Asian Drama;

Over time however, the overwhelming majority of

African countries fell to capitalize of these

favorable initial conditions—abundance of

natural resources and arable lands—to achieve

sustained economic growth and income

convergence;

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PPP-based per capita GDP comparison

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Singapore Gabon

Instead, growth rates fell far below expectations,

with negative averages after the 1974 oil shock;

Negative 0.5% in the late 1970s;

Negative 1.2% between 1980-1985;

Up to the first half of the 1990s, Africa average

growth rate fell to a record of negative 1.5%;

Noted scholars have referred to Africa’s growth

record as ―the economic tragedy of the 20th

century‖—Easterly and Levine (1997), Artadi

and Sala-i-Martin (2003);

Indeed, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region of

the developing world that will miss most MDGs;

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Tracking progress toward halving poverty

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10

20

30

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1990 2000 2015

East Asia and Pacific

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Explaining Africa’s abysmal development

outcomes

Several models have been used to explain the

Africa’s economic tragedy and widening income gap

with other regions of the world, including:

Dutch Diseases;

Institutions, governance and rent-seeking;

Deficit of economic diversification;

Falling investment rates and infrastructure crisis;

Of all these models, sustained decline in capital

accumulation and investments, which over time

has led to infrastructure crisis appears as one of

the most consequential policy failure in the

region;13

Not least because several studies have

established the existence of a strong and positive

correlation between infrastructure and growth

(Ayogu (2007, Calderon and Serven (2008));

In fact, since the industrial revolution, any

progress on the development ladder has been

either paralleled or preceded by improvement

in infrastructure;

―Since the emergence of modern Europe … and

rise of capitalism, idiosyncratic energy regimes

have been important to the making of the three

successive leading world economic powers‖, Kevin

Phillips (2008);

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Idiosyncratic referring to leading-edge energy

source or fuel in which a particular nation is, not

only well endowed, but made expert by a

unique acquaintance and economic and cultural

interaction;

Dutch: Wind and water to the seventeenth-

century—the Dutch empire captured wind for

power on sea and land through sails and

windmills with unmatched skills then;

Britain: Coal to the late-eighteenth-century;

USA: Oil to the early-twentieth-century;

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Correlation between transport indicators and PPP-

based PCGDP

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The infrastructure development-link is strong and

can be assessed from the standpoint of service

provision and export competitiveness;

Infrastructure serves two major purposes:

Provides services that are part of the consumption

bundle of residents;

Serves as input into production by augmenting the

productivity of labor and capital;

Conversely, the deficit of infrastructure can:

reduce productivity in the business sector;

reduce the rate of return to private capital formation,

and hence private capital accumulation;

lead to decline in real income in a context of increased

international competition;

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Definition: Infrastructure generally refers to the

relatively large physical capital facilities and

organizational knowledge and technological

frameworks that are fundamental to the

organization of communities and their economic

development;

Infrastructures include:

Highways and roads;

Mass transits and airport facilities;

Education, scientific and technological

infrastructures;

Electricity, gas and water supply facilities and

distribution systems;

Waste treatment and management systems;18

While Asian countries’ investments in key

infrastructures increased significantly and

consistently in the post-independence era, …

…Africa went through a long period of sustained

decline of public investments, which have

resulted in major infrastructure crisis with

long-term consequences;

With the exception of very few countries (Tunisia

and South Africa), a comparison between Africa

and other regions of the developing world on

most dimensions of infrastructure shows a

significant gap, reflecting Africa’s infrastructure

crisis—”Africa’s infrastructure stone age”;

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Table Comparative infrastructure indicators

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Power Tele

1996 2002 2008 1996 2002 2008

EAP 728.70 1029.07 1665.46 4.10 13.16 22.53

ECA 3272.48 3358.69 3845.32 17.04 22.79 25.52

LAC 1427.16 1578.43 1812.28 9.65 16.42 18.91

MENA 900.86 1143.92 1394.47 5.90 10.67 18.34

SSA 508.35 508.91 533.99 1.15 1.43 0.86

Note: ―Power‖ is electricity consumption (kwh per capita), and ―Tele‖ refers to

telephones lines (per 100 people).

Burden of electricity lost (share of working hours

lost due to power outages)

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Quality of road infrastructure by region (1991-2005)

22

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More than one in every three cities say that street capacity is a barrier to economic development.

The 2005 Transportation Partnership Package provided $16 million per year in new fuel tax distribution revenues

for cities. For municipalities serving 3.9 million residents, that $16 million builds approximately one mile of new

road.

Of the nearly 700 city owned bridges that are federally reported, 1 out of 4 are functionally obsolete, and

approximately 1 out of 10 are structurally deficient or weight restricted. This does not include the millions of dollars

needed to repair and replace structures under 20 feet.

Nearly 60% of our cities will need to replace a portion of their water distribution systems in the next 10 years.

One in every five cities report that the lack of drinking water capacity is a barrier to economic development.

Over 50% of our cities will need to replace a portion of their pump stations and collection systems in the next 10

years.

In more than one of every four cities, the lack of sewer/waste water capacity is a barrier to economic development.

98 cities face new Phase II state and federal stormwater requirements without any dedicated state assistance.

Numerous urban, commercial properties need new infrastructure and redevelopment if growth management is to

be successfully implemented. Yet these same properties are confirmed or

suspected as sites of contamination. Local governments want to take action but lack sufficient tools. Grants for

environmental cleanup of small sites is one glaring gap.

As cities struggle to accommodate increasing density, citizens are also demanding enhanced parks and open

space, trails, ballfields, and greenway corridors that help promote livability, recreation and

healthy lifestyles. Even with recent increases in the Washington Wildlife, Recreation and Parks (WWRP) program,

the state receives nearly $4 in requests for every $1 available –and several kinds of parks and community projects

don’t qualify for the funding.

Roads

Bridges

Drinking Water

Wastewater

Stormwater

Brownfields

Parks and

Open Space

Our Crisis:

The Africa’s infrastructure crisis has come

with long-term economic and social costs to

the region;

The crisis has adversely affected economic

growth rates;

Possible transmission channels include:

Private capital accumulation, with the poor

state of infrastructure not crowding-in private

investment;

FDI inflows;

Human capital accumulation;

Productivity and efficiency;

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Transmission Channels

Private Capital

Accumulation

Public capital

accumulation

infrastructure

Public capital

accumulation

infrastructureHuman capital

development

Private capital

accumulation

Human capital

accumulation

Productivity

enhancement

Economic

growth &

development

Productivity

enhancement

Economic

growth &

development

AFR

ASIA

ECA

Contrast between Africa and other regions

Africa is trailing other regions in the area of public

infrastructure and capital formation;

Africa is also lagging on human capital formation,

with 83 engineers per million, when the average

across developing world is about 514;

Consistent gaps across the growth chain have

been mirrored by income disparities between

Africa and other regions;

At the same time, the gender parity gap between

Africa and other regions has been less stark;

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Number of Researchers and Scientists

Countries and regions Scientists/engineers

in R&D

Sector of

performance (%)

Per mill. pop. Higher education Prod. enterprise Prod. sector

Industrialized economies 1102 22.9 1.037 1.043

Developing economies 514 22.2 0.041 0.054

Sub-Saharan Africa (exc. S. Africa) 83 38.7 0.002 0.000

North Africa 423 n/a n/a n/a

Latin America & Caribbean 339 23.4 0.041 0.082

Asia (excluding Japan) 783 25.8 0.244 0.231

European transition economies 1857 21.4 0.288 0.275

World (79-84 countries) 1304 24.7 0.318 0.337

Source: Calculated from UNESCO (1997). Regional propensities for R&D spending are simple averages.

R&D by financing

(% of GNP)

R&D propensities and manpower in major country groups (latest year available)

Infrastructure and growth: possible

transmission channels under engendered

growth models

The policies and programs promoting

gender equality may positively affect

growth through several channels:

Human capital development—increased

productivity of labor and other

complementary inputs to the production

process (higher marginal returns to schooling

for women);

Increased efficiency in the allocation of

different inputs;

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Differential marginal propensities to save—with

women potentially enjoying greater incentives

to save than men;

Stronger bequest motives and

intergenerational altruism;

Private capital accumulation, as the increasing

equalization of economic opportunities has

fueled the rising number of women

entrepreneurs;

For instance the power of microcredit

expanding the pool of women entrepreneurs;

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Public

Infrastructure

Development

Human capital

Accumulation

(Men)

Private Capital

Accumulation

Human capital

Accumulation

(Women)

Productivity

Channel

Higher growth

rate and

development

prospects

Transmission Channels

Although gender equality in access to public

infrastructure may indeed raise capital

accumulation and stock of infrastructure, …

… such a process may also be affected by intra-

household bargaining process;

Inter-temporal allocation of resources and time

preference resulting from that bargaining

process will affect saving and investment

decisions;

The relative bargaining power of women is

assumed to evolve as a function of the relative

wage of husband and wife and education level

of the latter;

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Initial conditions are equally important;

In the case of public infrastructure, access is

not always guaranteed by the provision;

Poverty-stricken households may continue to

have less access, even with the

implementation of policies to mainstream

gender;

However, even the emerging gender-neutral

growth theory—underpinned by long-run

public investment in education, health,

infrastructure and market access—has shown

predictably higher growth prospects;

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The theory emphasizes the

complementarity of efficiency and

equity—with the state investing in

services that supports and ―crowd-in‖

private investments;

Once again, these findings suggest that

infrastructure development may be

critical for growth and economic

development…

…even under the gender-neutral

assumption;

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Issues associated with infrastructure, gender

and development for consideration

It becomes important to show that growth

prospects of infrastructure development

are actually higher under the non-gender-

neutral model;

This is one of the main analytical gap that we

expect WDR2012 to address;

Can gender equality lead to sustainable growth

and development in the absence of basic

public infrastructure?

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Can frontier public infrastructure lead to sustainable

economic growth and development when designed

in a gender-neutral framework?

What would be the ideal development model for

sustainable growth?

Invariably frontier perspectives and thinking on both

infrastructure and gender equality;

Or inter-temporal trade-offs between gender equity and

infrastructure;

How would the production function under that

frontier thinking development—combined frontier

infrastructure development and gender equality—

be affected by country initial conditions—

income and threshold effects?36

How would that model be affected by intra-

household bargaining?

Consciously making irrational choice as the

price to pay for peace and stability;

Issue of sustainability of frontier perspectives in a

context of vulnerability to shocks and deficit of

human capital;

As the gender equality agenda take strong hold

across Africa, what should be the contours and

parameters of the vision underlying that agenda?

Could increased public investment in education,

scientific and technological infrastructure be the

real path towards irreversible attainment of gender

equality in Africa?37

Perspectives

In Africa, that infrastructure crisis is real and

was triggered by another economic crisis;

Over time, it took historical and dramatic

proportion, with most countries locked into the

stationary state of ―infrastructure stone age‖,…

…which has become one of the main constraints

to both women and men economic

empowerment and gender equality;

Unemployment rates are at Great Depression

levels in most countries throughout the region,

disproportionately affecting women;

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Bridging that infrastructure gap is a sine-qua-

none condition for economic development and

integration into the global economy;

Existing empirical studies are encouraging;

Calderon and Serven (2008) find that reducing in

half the gap between Africa’s infrastructure

development and the average in the comparable

income category would result in a 2.2 percentage

points gains in growth in Central African LIC;

This empirical result is not surprising—

infrastructure development has been the engine

for economic growth and development since

the industrial revolution;

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In the decades and centuries following the

industrial revolution, infrastructure development

played a key role in the advancement of

industrialized nations in Europe;

More recently, it has played in critical role in the

transformation of emerging market economies

in Asia;

In a book titled ―Lives of the Engineers‖

published in 1861, Samuel Smiles explained

how the English nations evolved from being

dependent on their European rivals to

becoming the commercial giant of the 19th

century;

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He credited scientists and engineers with playing a

significant role in the various development and

industrial projects that created the best

infrastructure in the world, then;

African countries can follow the same path

embraced by Britain then and more recently by

Asian EME, to ultimately exit the stationary state of

―infrastructure stone age‖ and poverty trap…

… bridge their technological and scientific

infrastructure gaps and effectively enter a virtuous

cycle of sustained growth and economic

development;

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Doing so a la Nordic—under a frontier perspective

underpinned by the development of gender-

informed modern infrastructure—may actually

create more prosperous and inclusive societies;

Incentives to enter that virtuous path will be further

enhanced by our ability to address the remaining

analytical gaps;

―how” and “why” gender equality matters for

the development of infrastructure and for

development in general;

Should African countries follow such a path, then

more than bridging the income gap with other

regions of the world, they could attain income

convergence a la Asian EME; 42

Income convergence (PCGDP in constant 2000 $US)

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What is the end objective of gender equality?

―Equality consists in the same treatment of

similar persons‖— Aristotle.

―Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes.

There is just too much fraternizing with the

enemy‖— Henry Kissinger.

Thank You!

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