Shrinking Economic Distance

This recent World Bank publication explores how a greater understanding of markets and places can lower transportation costs in developing countries. This knowledge is also important when it comes to implementing PPP infrastructure projects that relying on international trade.

The World Bank writers of the publication, “Herrera Dappe, Matías;?Lebrand, Mathilde;?and Stokenberga, Aiga have explored this need for understanding - as described in the description below.

“Shrinking Economic Distance: Understanding How Markets and Places Can Lower Transport Costs in Developing Countries” makes a unique contribution by assessing the main determinants of shippers’ economic costs of freight transport—economic distance—and identifying the frictions that keep transport prices above an efficient level, shipping times high, and reliability low. Drawing on new analyses and compiling many others, the book provides important evidence to inform the design of policies to reduce the economic costs of transport and deepen the economic integration of developing countries.

This book shows how understanding the frictions driving the economic costs of freight transport can help policy makers target reforms in the areas in which they can have the greatest impact and avoid unintended consequences. It lays out the building blocks for a reform agenda to reduce economic distance, which includes first making markets and then making places efficient. “Shrinking Economic Distance” will be of enormous value to policy makers, practitioners, and academics interested in freight transport and economic integration.

To download the publication, follow the link in the citation.

Citation

“Herrera Dappe, Matías;?Lebrand, Mathilde;?Stokenberga, Aiga.?2024.?Shrinking Economic Distance: Understanding How Markets and Places Can Lower Transport Costs in Developing Countries.?Sustainable Infrastructure Series.???Washington, DC: World Bank.?https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42061?License:?CC BY 3.0 IGO.”