An institutional reform strategy for assessment of the urban housing and infrastructure sectors: A study in economic development of Afghanistan.

摘要

Economic development in post-war Afghanistan depends on mobilization of domestic private resources and inputs of production. A sector of the economy that would mobilize private resources is urban housing and infrastructure. The identification of this sector is supported by the development theories of Surplus-Labor and Preconditions for Take-off and by the development positions of Hidden Rationalities and Macroeconomic Impacts. A central policy question addressed in this dissertation is: What are the mechanisms to mobilize domestic private resources and to increase supply responsiveness in the urban housing and infrastructure sector?;In Part I of this study, a detailed assessment of inputs of production for housing and infrastructure sectors in Afghanistan is provided. Opportunities based on familiar institutions, workable mechanisms, as well as constraints and bottlenecks are identified. Effective institutional reform and intervention strategies for resource mobilization and supply responsiveness are prioritized.;To assess orders of magnitude for the impacts of institutional reform and intervention, in Part II of this study, a framework is developed on the basis of Paul Strassmann's Stock-User Matrix model. In terms of policy implications, the proposed framework places emphasis on enabling interventions and institutional reforms, and focusing on households in the middle deciles of income distribution.;The impact assessment of institutional reforms and strategies suggests that the middle deciles of urban households would be motivated by various enabling public policy reforms. It concludes that institutional reforms and effective public interventions in critical inputs of production would result in marshaling private resources in improving urban housing and infrastructure conditions. The process of resource mobilization, due to its financial, fiscal, and investment implications, would pave the way for the economic development of Afghanistan. The methodological framework developed in this study is not limited to Afghanistan.