The Economics of Regional Poverty-Environment Programs: An Application for Lao People's Democratic Republic

41 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Piet Buys

Piet Buys

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Susmita Dasgupta

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Kenneth M. Chomitz

World Bank, Independent Evaluation Group

Ewe Diechmann

World Bank

Bjorn Larsen

World Bank

Craig M. Meisner

The World Bank; The World Bank

Jostein Nygard

World Bank

Kiran Dev Pandey

World Bank

Nat Pinnoi

World Bank

David Wheeler

World Bank - Policy Research Department

Date Written: April 7, 2004

Abstract

Program administrators are often faced with the difficult problem of allocating scarce resources among regions in a country when interventions are aimed at addressing multiple objectives. One main concern is the tradeoff between poverty reduction and improvement of environmental quality. To provide a framework for analysis, the authors develop a model of optimal budget allocation that allows for variations in three factors: administrators' valuation of objectives; their willingness to accept tradeoffs among objectives and regional allotments; and regional administrative costs. The results from an application of this model using information for Lao People's Democratic Republic show that simple poverty indicators alone do not provide consistent guidelines for policy. However, when different poverty indicators are embedded in an optimizing model that incorporates preferences and costs, the resulting provincial allocations are very similar. This suggests that adoption of a formal analytical approach to resource allocation can help promote the harmonization of regional policy guidelines.

This paper - a joint product of Infrastructure and Environment, Development Research Group, and the Environment Sector Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region - is part of a larger effort in the Bank to understand poverty-environment links in different contexts.

Suggested Citation

Buys, Piet and Dasgupta, Susmita and Chomitz, Kenneth M. and Diechmann, Ewe and Larsen, Bjorn and Meisner, Craig M. and Nygard, Jostein and Pandey, Kiran and Pinnoi, Nat and Wheeler, David, The Economics of Regional Poverty-Environment Programs: An Application for Lao People's Democratic Republic (April 7, 2004). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3267, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=610308

Piet Buys

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

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Susmita Dasgupta

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H. Street, N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States
202-473-2679 (Phone)
202-522-3230 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/sdasgupta

Kenneth M. Chomitz (Contact Author)

World Bank, Independent Evaluation Group ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Ewe Diechmann

World Bank

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Bjorn Larsen

World Bank

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Craig M. Meisner

The World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street
Washington, DC 20433
United States

The World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street N.W
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Jostein Nygard

World Bank

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Kiran Pandey

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Nat Pinnoi

World Bank

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

David Wheeler

World Bank - Policy Research Department ( email )

1818 H Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/dwheeler

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