Skip to content
Home/ Rural Transport in Developing Countries
Rural Transport in Developing Countries

Rural Transport in Developing Countries

by Barwell, I
No customer reviews yet ISBN 9780367286415

For more than three decades investment in the transport sector has been a priority for developing country governments. With a few exceptions, roads have accounted for the major part of these investments. The explicit, and often articulated, assumption upon which the decision to allocate such large sums of money to road transport has been made is that road transport and development are inextricably linked. The implicit, and rarely articulated assumption is that the provision of suitable roads will lead to the operation of an adequate level of road transport services. If roads do not actually produce economic development, it has been argued, they certainly play a major role. This belief in the ben-eficial effects of roads is not wholly unsubstantiated. Clearly the provision of some form of access is vital for the development of the rural economy. Nevertheless, the studies carried out over the last 10-15 years on the impact of highway investment have sounded a cautionary note. George W. Wilson, writing in the concluding chapter of the Brookings Institution studies on transport and development, suggested that* 'A much more sceptical attitude towards transport appears essential and far more attention needs to be devoted to the set of circumstances surrounding expansion of transport capacity'. 1 The suggestion of a more restrained attitude reflected a growing concern that transport, and in particular roads, was only one factor amongst a large number that needed to be integrated for effective development. The concern to see road transport in a wider context partly explains the move towards the evaluation of the social, as well as strictly economic, benefits of road construction.

About the author

Product details

Pub dateMay 7, 2019
ISBN-100367286416
ISBN-139780367286415
LanguageEnglish
Last updated 2026-01-12 06:43
$230.02 $233.99 1% off
You save $3.97 · list price $233.99
In stock soon — order now to reserve your copy
Delivery by Monday, September 14, 2026
Qty
Sign in to Add to Saved list
Free delivery on orders over $35.
15-day returns. Any reason.
Secure checkout. We never store card details.

Readers who bought this also bought

More from Developing & Emerging Countries
See all
Capital: The Eruption of Delhi
Dasgupta, Rana
$12.78
Brazil: What Everyone Needs to Know(r)
Roett, Riordan
$12.05
Inside the Islamic Republic: Social Change in Post-Khomeini Iran
Inside the Islamic Republic: Social Change in Post-Khomeini Iran
$43.09
Mexico: What Everyone Needs to Know(r)
Camp, Roderic Ai
$12.05
Information Infrastructures in India: The Long View
Ninan Thomas, Pradip
$115.52
Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-Building and Development in Africa
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-BC-ND 4.0 International License. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. <p/>Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do 'pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness' emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa? <p/>Repeated economic and social crises have demanded that development thinkers and policy actors have had to engage with the critical role that states play in delivering development. <em>Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa</em> shows that politics is the driving factor that shapes how well state agencies perform their roles. It deploys a new conceptual framework - the power domains approach - to explore the shifting fortunes of key state agencies in five countries - Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia - over the past three decades. Our original research reveals when, how and why political rulers decide to build effective state agencies and enable them to deliver certain forms of economic development - often through forming strategic coalitions with senior bureaucrats and with international support - and also when this support falters and gives way to a politics of survival. Comparative analysis identifies two potential trajectories towards state-building in Africa, each shaped by different configurations of social and political power. The book critiques the role that international development agencies have played in (mis)shaping the state in Africa and suggests a new strategic agenda for building the state capacities required to deliver sustained development at the current juncture. The book closes with critical commentaries from two leading scholars in the field, to help place our work in context and establish the next steps for research and strategy in this increasingly important area of development theory and practice.
$131.97