INSTITUTIONAL INCENTIVES AND RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUSTAINABILITY

The terms of reference for the Decentralization: Finance and Management Project posed the following question: How can the likelihood of maintaining rural infrastructure be increased in developing countries so that rural infrastructure facilities are sustained over time rather than allowed to deteriorate long before their expected useful lives are completed? This report focuses on the institutional arrangements within which rural infrastructure facilities are financed, designed, constructed, operated, maintained, and used. Several case studies drawn from the authors' own experiences, from those of various donor agencies and from the academic literature are presented to provide both successful and unsuccessful real-world examples of infrastructure sustenance efforts. As the relationships between theoretical concepts and the practical problems of infrastructure sustenance is not always obvious, these case studies serve to illustrate the concepts discussed here.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • The report is a product of the Decentralization: Finance and Management (DFM) Project, sponsored by USAID S&T/RD, in collaboration with Syracuse University and Indiana University.
• Corporate Authors:

  Associates in Rural Development, Incorporated

  110 Main Street
  Burlington, VT  United States  05401
• Authors:
  • Ostrom, E
  • Schroeder, L
  • Wynne, S
• Publication Date: 1990-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decentralization; Developing countries; Economic factors; Finance; Incentives; Infrastructure; Institutional issues; Organizations; Rural areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Financial management; Institutions
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00497036
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1990 12:00AM