Output- and Performance-Based Road Contracts and Agricultural Production : Evidence from Zambia
Rural access is among the most important infrastructure elements to stimulate economic growth in rural and remote areas. The sustainability of feeder road maintenance is a challenge in many developing countries. Many feeder roads are unpaved and ne...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/138501505917842425/Output-and-performance-based-road-contracts-and-agricultural-production-evidence-from-Zambia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28379 |
| Summary: | Rural access is among the most important
infrastructure elements to stimulate economic growth in
rural and remote areas. The sustainability of feeder road
maintenance is a challenge in many developing countries.
Many feeder roads are unpaved and need to be maintained
frequently, but they are often neglected under budget
pressure. Output- and performance-based road contracts are
an instrument to ensure the sustainability of road
maintenance. Contractors are required not only to improve
roads, but also to maintain them. Using micro data from
household surveys in Zambia, the paper examines the impacts
of output- and performance-based road contracts on
agricultural production. It shows that the contracts have a
significant impact on crop production, especially maize and
groundnuts, two major crops grown in the study area. The
paper also finds that the measured impacts are associated
with actual road maintenance works, regardless of
contractual methods. Any road work can improve people's
connectivity, even if it is not an output- and
performance-based road contracts. The impact of the
contracts is catalytic: more road works were implemented on
contract roads than non-contract roads, holding everything
else constant. This is an important contribution to the
sustainability of road maintenance. Finally, road
improvement works are found to facilitate farmers'
market participation, but the impact seems weak. There may
be other constraints. Transport service costs are found to
have a negative impact on farmers' market sales. Thus,
although roads are improved, transport services may be not
available or too expensive, which still hamper farmers'
market participation. |
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