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on Project, Program and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Amandine Belard (Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Stefano Farolfi (Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Damien Jourdain (Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, UMR G-EAU - Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AgroParisTech - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Mark Manyanga (UZ - University of Zimbabwe, SENS - Savoirs, ENvironnement et Sociétés - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UMPV - Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry); Tarisayi Pedzisa (UZ - University of Zimbabwe); Marc Willinger (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier, CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | Community-based development (CBD) projects have long emphasized a bottom-up approach. For CBD initiatives to succeed, communities must harness their social capital, organize themselves, and actively engage in development processes. While CBD proponents highlight the promotion of social capital through community-based projects, critics argue that their effectiveness relies on pre-existing levels of trust, trustworthiness, and community interactions. To contribute to this debate, we investigate the selection bias regarding social capital induced by the recruitment strategy of an NGO in Zimbabwe. We look at differences between selected beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in terms of pro-social behaviors, measured by incentivized games, and in terms of social networks. We also use this information to test whether being part of the same networks translates into increased trust, altruistic behaviors, and willingness to participate in collective action. Our study, conducted in 2022 in the rural district of Murehwa, Zimbabwe, comprised a survey and lab-in-the-field experiments (trust game, public good game, dictator game) involving 341 subjects. Findings showed that selected beneficiaries exhibit higher network density than non-beneficiaries. However, except for a partial experimental measure of trustworthiness, we observed no significant differences in prosocial behavior between the two groups before project implementation. The results suggest that although selected beneficiaries are more socially connected, they do not exhibit higher prosocial behaviors. These findings shed light on the common selection process used by development agencies and the inherent bias they introduce. To address this bias, development agencies should reconsider recruitment strategies that prioritize existing social ties, as they may unintentionally exclude less-connected community members. Instead, they should explore alternative selection approaches, such as the use of field data to ensure inclusiveness. Additionally, integrating trust-building activities at the beginning of projects could enhance cooperation among participants. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05314443 |
| By: | Phiri Kampanje, Brian |
| Abstract: | It is natural that gigantic projects attract intense scrutiny and constant evaluation. This is the case with the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP) which is currently USD520 million undertaking for both Phase I and II but Phase II costing will be determined in its project life running from 2018 through 2031. This study subjected SVTP to the basic SDGs Evaluation Model and it shows that there are so many gaps which must be addressed for the project to be SDGs compliant and have meaningful impact to Malawi and indeed its citizens. The sooner the observable deficiencies are addressed the better for Malawi. |
| Keywords: | Shire; Valley; Transformation; Malawi, SDGs |
| JEL: | H63 H69 Q15 Q18 Q19 |
| Date: | 2025–08–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126389 |
| By: | Toptancî, Alî |
| Abstract: | This study will examine the economic impacts of a transformation in which clean energy becomes more prevalent in the Kurdistan Region, within the scope of the Runaki Project. The elimination of approximately 3, 200 private generators within the scope of the Runaki Project marks the first step in transitioning to clean electricity in the Kurdistan Region. Thanks to the Runaki, cities such as Erbil, Duhok, Slemani, Halabja, and their districts started to have access to clean electricity and benefit from uninterrupted electrical energy. Before the Runaki Project, electricity costs in the Kurdistan Region were reflected in high bills due to private generators that took advantage of power outages and caused air pollution. Therefore, people’s budgets were negatively affected due to high electricity costs. In line with the decision taken by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with an investment of approximately $200 million regarding the Runaki Project, works are ongoing to eliminate air pollution, provide clean and uninterrupted electricity, and ensure that affordable electricity will be widespread throughout the Kurdistan Region by the end of 2026. In the long term, the transition to clean energy in the Kurdistan Region within the scope of the Runaki Project is expected to contribute to economic growth and prevent the recent slowdown in productivity in the Kurdistan Region. It is envisioned that the Runaki Project will contribute to economic prosperity in the Kurdistan Region within the context of the 2030-2050 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and as a measure to mitigate the climate crisis resulting from global warming. In this context, the Runaki Project has observed that efforts to combat inflation, increase employment, and prevent recession in the Kurdistan Region are accelerating, yielding numerous economic benefits. The Runaki Project will enhance the electricity grid, lower electricity costs throughout the Kurdistan Region, and provide additional savings for the citizens of the Kurdistan Region. |
| Keywords: | Kurdistan Region, Runaki Project, clean electricity, uninterrupted electricity, economic growth, SDGs. |
| JEL: | Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q48 Q54 Q56 R11 R13 R58 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126289 |
| By: | Bertille Daran (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris); Clément Nedoncelle (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Climate aid is an international financial flow that promotes mitigation and adaptation to climate change while supporting local economic development. These flows may have unintended consequences, potentially exacerbating environmental degradation. This study examines the impact of climate aid on deforestation in Africa from 2001 to 2021. Using a novel dataset of geocoded aid projects that we classify as pursuing climate-related objectives by applying a machine learning model, we find evidence of a causal link between climate aid and forest loss. On average, deforestation increases by 94 hectares for every additional 1 million USD of geocoded climate aid projects disbursed. Over the complete period and spatial extent, 5% of deforestation is linked to the disbursement of climate aid projects. These effects are heterogeneous and vary by initial forest cover: aid increases deforestation in densely forested areas, while it appears to reduce deforestation where forest cover was initially sparse. Analysis of the mechanisms suggests that the effects are primarily driven by economic funding for mitigation, production-related activities, and particularly agricultural expansion. |
| Abstract: | L'aide climatique est un flux financier international qui favorise l'atténuation et l'adaptation au changement climatique tout en soutenant le développement économique local. Ces flux peuvent avoir des conséquences imprévues, susceptibles d'aggraver la dégradation de l'environnement. Cette étude examine l'impact de l'aide climatique sur la déforestation en Afrique entre 2001 et 2021. À l'aide d'un nouvel ensemble de données géocodées sur les projets d'aide que nous classons comme poursuivant des objectifs liés au climat en appliquant un modèle d'apprentissage automatique, nous avons trouvé des preuves d'un lien de causalité entre l'aide climatique et la perte de forêts. En moyenne, la déforestation augmente de 94 hectares pour chaque million de dollars supplémentaires versés dans le cadre de projets d'aide climatique géocodés. Sur l'ensemble de la période et de l'étendue spatiale, 5 % de la déforestation est liée au versement de projets d'aide climatique. Ces effets sont hétérogènes et varient en fonction de la couverture forestière initiale : l'aide augmente la déforestation dans les zones densément boisées, tandis qu'elle semble la réduire là où la couverture forestière était initialement clairsemée. L'analyse des mécanismes suggère que ces effets sont principalement dus au financement économique des activités d'atténuation, des activités liées à la production et, en particulier, de l'expansion agricole. |
| Keywords: | Land conversion, Tropical deforestation, Mitigation and adaptation |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-05310970 |
| By: | Anuj Bhowmik |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the characterizations of equilibrium in economies with public projects. Public goods, as discussed by Mas-Colell (1980), are modeled as elements of an abstract set lacking a unified ordering structure. We introduce the concepts of cost share equilibrium for such economies, where the private commodity space is a (possibly nonseparable) Banach lattice. Within this framework, we present two distinct characterizations of cost share equilibria via the veto power of the grand coalition in economies featuring finitely many agents. The first characterization involves allocations that are Aubin non-dominated, while the second establishes that an allocation is a cost share equilibrium if and only if it cannot be dominated by the grand coalition, where domination is considered under specific perturbations of initial endowments. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.24437 |
| By: | Chirag Lala |
| Abstract: | The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is criticized for "derisking" private investment by increasing the gains to private firms. The derisking critique argues that the IRA insufficiently disciplines private firms; it does not utilize legal or financial penalties which would force firms to undertake green investment and bar emissions-intensive investment. This paper answers that critique by providing a Post-Keynesian theory of capital expenditure. It argues all industrial policies promote investment by removing or mitigating risks in an environment of fundamental uncertainty. Industrial policies tackle different risks and can be assessed or compared on their effectiveness in doing so. An insufficient investment growth rate need not be an indication of their failure, but that complementary policies are required to mitigate risks or make risks calculable. For instance, the IRA's uncapped Investment Tax Credit (ITC) increases clean energy investment by reducing project reliance on expensive debt financing. The ITC does not address other barriers to clean energy investment: transmission and distribution, permitting, or the need for clean firm resources. This is not a failure of discipline, but rather an indication that more state intervention must facilitate rapid decarbonization. The derisking critique's emphasis on disciplining private firms into investment reallocation underestimates real obstacles to investment, particularly how those obstacles shape choices faced by firms. It also affects the character of investment itself, making it inaccurate to describe investment as the allocation of fixed financial resources. The derisking critique lacks a mechanism connecting financial or legal disciplinary measures on firms to an increase in green capital expenditure. This causes the derisking critique to miss a more productive avenue for investigating industrial policy conditionalities: linking them to a broader state-led coordination of varying industrial policy priorities, the timing of capital expenditure to meet them, and seizing of opportunities presented by their success. Originally issued as EDI Working Paper No. 19, March 2024. |
| Keywords: | Tax Credits; IRA; Inflation Reduction Act; Clean Energy; Industrial Policy; Investment Theory; Capital Theory; Risk; Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_1069 |
| By: | Barron, Patrick John; Gassier, Marine; Ikindji, Meltem; Woolcock, Michael |
| Abstract: | How social change is sought is central to ensuring not only that change happens but that it does so in ways perceived by those most affected by it to be legitimate (especially those who “lose”). This paper expands on the prior concept of “process legitimacy” to provide an analytical framework identifying its key constituent elements and the mechanisms by which it is established, consolidated, challenged, and altered as part of the development process. The paper first outlines the drivers of process legitimacy, before developing a typology highlighting four levels at which legitimacy contests occur: between societal groups, between elite factions, between national and local authorities, and between national and global actors. This framework helps identify the risks development interventions face when they fail to navigate these contests effectively. The paper concludes by examining how development interventions can help societies overcome legitimacy contests by fostering constructive spaces for negotiation and facilitating the gradual emergence of shared understanding around legitimate goals and processes. |
| Date: | 2025–10–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11234 |
| By: | Ibrahim Rym (UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne, COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne, LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | In a context of successive or prolonged crises and the re-evaluation of our productive and democratic models in light of planetary challenges, we consider it more crucial than ever to develop the capacity to support today's and tomorrow's entrepreneurs in the processes of social transformation in which they participate. However, entrepreneurship research is fragmented into a diversity of research streams, whose history has been shaped by various, often outdated, borrowings from neighboring disciplines (sociology, psychology, economic geography, anthropology...), leading to significant conceptual proliferation and the mobilization of knowledge that is sometimes obsolete. These streams (institutional entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, international entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship...), which represent sets of entrepreneurial situations that appear distinct but also reflect the concerns and beliefs prevalent at the times they emerged (Gabrielsson et al., 2023), have since developed their own trajectories. As a result, their evolution has sometimes taken divergent paths, making it increasingly difficult to transfer knowledge produced in one domain to another (McMullen et al., 2021; Baker and Welter, 2021). This further complicates the mobilization of these distinct academic corpora to support entrepreneurial processes, during which the situations encountered and the scope of opportunities extend beyond the boundaries delineated by the fields of literature. In this pivotal period presaging the restructuring of our economies and entrepreneurial models, the need for the discipline to consolidate around a comprehensive and parsimonious conceptual core, applicable to a multiplicity of specific situations, has become increasingly apparent (McMullen et al., 2021; Baker and Welter, 2021). This requires developing the capacity to empirically refute certain existing theoretical propositions, to challenge specific conceptual frameworks, to enhance the universality of the knowledge generated, and to specify actionable, non-essentialist categories of situations for practitioners. Such categories should refer to regimes of action - e.g., seeking partners, legitimizing - rather than identities attributed to their manifestations, such as social entrepreneurship, necessity entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship in the Global South. This pursuit of parsimony – a form of "housekeeping" (Dimov, 2024) involving the sorting and refinement of its foundational elements – justifies turning to contributions from philosophy as a discipline, and more specifically to philosophies of action. Attention must therefore focus on understanding the entrepreneurial process itself, or rather the various forms of successive situations in which it is instantiated, to resist any temptation toward reification. It must also focus on how entrepreneurs perceive this open-ended process, how they project themselves into it, apprehend the situations they encounter, and act within them. Ultimately, interest lies in the interplay between cognition, action, and situation by which the entrepreneurial process is instantiated, as well as in the intersubjectivities that influence its trajectory (Le Pontois and Foliard, 2025). It is only by documenting these dimensions empirically that it will be possible to generate truly relevant knowledge (Thompson et al., 2023). Our fundamental research aims to actively contribute to this ambition of theoretical consolidation through the proposal of an original methodological approach for data collection and analysis, reproducible across various levels of analysis. We seek to demonstrate the value of this methodological approach, which is rarely employed in our discipline (and which we have tested on a small scale), by combining complementary approaches drawn from two distinct disciplinary domains—sociology and ergonomics. |
| Keywords: | Methodology, Epistemology, Agency, Entrepreneurship |
| Date: | 2025–07–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05313293 |