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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Harvey HIMBERG; Jiajun XU; Kevin P. GALLAGHER |
| Abstract: | In the five years since the Paris Agreement, Development Finance Institutions have made various commitments to aligning their operations with climate change goals. In this report, we analyze the extent to which those official commitments and principles have become manifest in the regular project cycle operations of a presentative sample of DFIs operating across the globe. As defined by the World Bank “the project cycle is the framework used to design, prepare, implement, and supervise projects.” For both MDBs and IDFC members we analyze the strategy, roles, tools and techniques used to mainstream climate change in their operations at the project level.This Research Paper is published in the framework of the International Research Initiative on Public Development Banks working groups and released for the occasion of the 14th AFD International Research Conference on Development. It is part of the pilot research program “Realizing the Potential of Public Development Banks for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals”. This program was launched, along with the International Research Initiative on Public Development Banks (PDBs), by the Institute of New Structural Economics (INSE) at Peking University, and sponsored by the Agence française de développement (AFD), Ford Foundation and International Development Finance Club (IDFC).Have a look on the key findings for a quick overview of the research resultsSee the video pitch |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2020–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en11703&r=all |
| By: | Andre Jungmittag (European Commission - JRC); Robert Marschinski (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of service trade restrictions on bilateral greenfield FDI projects in four different business services sectors within a gravity model framework. Project level FDI data for 42 destination countries and up to 41 source countries spanning the years 2014 to 2018 is taken from the fDi Markets database, and restrictions from the OECD’s Service Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI). Using a negative binomial estimator to explain the number of bilateral FDI projects, we find that service trade restrictions represent a significant barrier for greenfield FDI. In 3 out of 4 business services, we obtain statistically significant evidence of a negative impact. Furthermore, the explanatory power of the models generally improves when using the sub-components of the STRI (restrictions to foreign entry, restrictions to the movement of people and other service trade restrictions), instead of the single aggregated index value. Based on the estimated impacts of the different restrictions, we carry out a series of simple simulations of how the number of expected FDI projects would increase in response to a hypothetical policy reform, and propose some sector-specific policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Economic integration, service trade, foreign direct investment, business services, service trade restrictions, count data model, gravity model, greenfield investment, professional services, regulatory restrictions, investment restrictions |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc122116&r=all |
| By: | Samantha Attridge; Jiajun Xu; Kevin P. Gallagher |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the authors examine the role of development finance institutions (DFIs) in piloting clean energy transitions by conducting in-depth case studies with representative multilateral development banks (MDBs) and national development banks. Their key findings include: (a) technical risk is the most compelling challenge for piloting new clean energies with huge uncertainties, and development-oriented DFIs endowed with industrial expertise can make forwardlooking pilot investments (sometimes throughout the supply chain) to demonstrate the viability of new technologies to attract private capital to follow suit; (b) policy and regulatory risks are a key hindrance in scaling up clean energies, and as public entities development banks have comparative advantages of coordinating and even shaping policy discussions with government agencies to mitigate such policy and regulatory risks; and (c) foreign exchange risk is an undeniable challenge for NDBs to attract foreign investment or for MDBs to invest renewable energy projects in developing countries especially given the fact that shadow financial markets make hedging costly, which encourages MDBs to explore local (green) bond issuances.This Research Paper is published in the framework of the International Research Initiative on Public Development Banks working groups and released for the occasion of the 14th AFD International Research Conference on Development. It is part of the pilot research program “Realizing the Potential of Public Development Banks for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals”. This program was launched, along with the International Research Initiative on Public Development Banks (PDBs), by the Institute of New Structural Economics (INSE) at Peking University, and sponsored by the Agence française de développement (AFD), Ford Foundation and International Development Finance Club (IDFC).Have a look on the key findings for a quick overview of the research resultsSee the video pitch |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2020–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en11711&r=all |
| By: | Raphael A. Auer; Giulio Cornelli; Jon Frost |
| Abstract: | Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are receiving more attention than ever before. Yet the motivations for issuance vary across countries, as do the policy approaches and technical designs. We investigate the economic and institutional drivers of CBDC development and take stock of design efforts. We set out a comprehensive database of technical approaches and policy stances on issuance, relying on central bank speeches and technical reports. Most projects are found in digitised economies with a high capacity for innovation. Work on retail CBDCs is more advanced where the informal economy is larger. We next take stock of the technical design options. More and more central banks are considering retail CBDC architectures in which the CBDC is a direct cash-like claim on the central bank, but where the private sector handles all customer-facing activity. We conclude with an in-depth description of three distinct CBDC approaches by the central banks of China, Sweden and Canada. |
| Keywords: | central bank digital currency, CBDC, payments, central banking, digital currency, digital money, distributed ledger technology, blockchain |
| JEL: | E42 E44 E51 E58 G21 G28 F31 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8655&r=all |
| By: | Jana Rudolf Mesaric (Ministry of Finance, State aid monitoring department, Slovenia, Ljubljana); Isabelle Seigneur (European Commission - JRC); Fernando Merida-Martin (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | The EU Member States and regions are currently investing in sustainable and innovative energy projects using European Structural and Investment Funds in order to meet their energy security and environmental targets. This support granted by Member States may distort competition and affect trade between Member States which may trigger the application of State aid rules. However, despite the general prohibition of State aid, environmental protection and clean energy measures are objectives of common interest that may justify the granting of State aid. Compliance with EU State aid rules has been often mentioned as an important challenge for cohesion policy experts, being one of the main sources of irregularities and corrections in the implementation of the regional cohesion policy and can, therefore, constitute a bottleneck for S3 and energy programmes' implementation in many regions. This report is part of the policy support provided by the Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy (S3PEnergy) to EU regions and Member States that have selected energy as a priority within their Smart Specialisation Strategies and wish to implement support schemes in this area. In order to guide their work, the S3PEnergy, in collaboration with the Andalusian Innovation and Development Agency and the Andalusian Energy Agency, and within the scope of the REGIO Communities of Practitioners, organised a TAIEX-REGIO Multicountry Workshop on State Aid Map in Energy Sector held on the 19th and 20th of March 2019, in Seville, Spain. The aim of the workshop was multifold: - To create a forum for a fruitful discussion on the application of State aid rules in the energy sector (e.g. energy infrastructures, renewables, smart grids, energy efficiency, sustainable buildings, etc.); - To address practical issues faced by national or regional responsible authorities about State aid compliance of their public interventions in energy - To co-construct State aid maps in energy to facilitate the application of the State aid rules by practitioners. The report is organised in three main sections. The first offers a general insight on State aid and the applicability of the State aid rules in the energy sector, and points to the existence of differences between the Cohesion Policy and Competition Policy. The second section elaborates on the work done in the workshop, such as the exchange of experiences among the practitioners in the form of presentations of specific energy projects and discussions. Special attention is given to the creation of the State aid maps as the final output of the workshop. Finally, the report concludes with a summary of the most common challenges in the State aid assessment of energy projects that were identified by the participants Possibilities for future cooperation among practitioners and provides suggestions for additional actions to be taken by the State aid practitioners, the REGIO Community of Practitioners (CoP) and the European Commission. |
| Keywords: | Smart Specialisation, Thematic Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy, Cohesion Policy, European Structural and Investment Funds, Competition Policy, EU State aid rules, State aid map, Communities of practitioners, Energy projects |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc122164&r=all |