Cette thèse est composée de quatre essais sur l'économétrie des mesures d'inégalité et de pauvreté. Elle fournit un traitement statistique fondé sur l'analyse de modèles probabilistes de mélange fini de distributions et de modèle de régression quantile, le tout dans une approche Bayésienne.Le deuxième chapitre s'intéresse à la modélisation d'une distribution de revenus par un mélange fini de lois log-normales dont les paramètres sont estimés par la méthode d'échantillonnage de Gibbs. Ce chapitre propose une méthode d'inférence statistique pour certains indices d'inégalité par une Rao-Blackwellisation de l'échantillonnage de Gibbs. Le troisième chapitre propose une estimation Bayésienne de la récente régression quantile non-conditionnelle basée sur la fonction d'influence recentrée (regression RIF) dans laquelle la densité est estimée par un mélange de lois normales. De cette approche, on déduit une inférence Bayesienne pour la méthode de décomposition d'Oaxaca-Blinder. La méthode proposée est utilisée pour analyser la dispersion des salaires aux Etats-Unis entre 1992-2009.Le quatrième chapitre propose une inférence Bayésienne d'un mélange de deux lois de Pareto simples pour modéliser la partie supérieure d'une distribution de salaires. Cette approche est utilisée pour analyser la répartition des hauts salaires aux Etats-Unis afin de tester les deux modèles (Tournoi et Superstar). Le cinquième chapitre de la thèse est consacré à l'analyse des rendements privés de l'éducation sur le revenu des ménages et des inégalités entre les populations urbaines et rurales. Il considère le cas du Sénégal et utilise les dépenses totales de consommation comme indicateur du revenu. / This dissertation consists of four essays on the econometrics of inequality and poverty measurement. It provides a statistical analysis based on probabilistic models, finite mixture distributions and quantile regression models, all using aBayesian approach.Chapter 2 models income distribution using a mixture of lognormal densities. Using the analytical expression of inequality indices, it shows how a Rao-Blackwellised Gibbs sampler can lead to accurate inference on income inequality measurements even in small samples.Chapter 3 develops Bayesian inference for the unconditional quantile regression model based on the Re-centered Influence Function (RIF). It models the considered distribution by a mixture of lognormal densities and then provides conditional posterior densities for the quantile regression parameters. This approach is perceived to provide better estimates in the extreme quantiles in the presence of heavy tails as well as valid small sample confidence intervalsfor the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition.Chapter 4 provides Bayesian inference for a mixture of two Pareto distributions which is then used to approximate the upper tail of a wage distribution. This mixture model is applied to the data from the CPS ORG to analyze the recent structure of top wages in the U.S. from 1992 through 2009. Findings are largely in accordance with the explanations combining the model of superstars and the model of tournaments in hierarchical organization structures. Chapter 5 makes use of the RIF-regression to measure both changes in the return to education across quantiles and rural urban inequality decomposition in consumption expenditure in Senegal.

This paper investigates empirically the interest rate channel of the transmission mechanism of the monetary policy in Peru. Using monthly data for the six largest banks for the period June 2003 – June 2010 we study the two main policy instruments used under the inflation-target regime: the rate of monetary policy and the required bank reserves rate. We fit a dynamic panel data model obtaining two fundamental results. First, increases in the rate of monetary policy affectpositively and significantly the interest rates on commercial loans charged by the six largest banks of the country. Second, no evidence is found that the required bank reserves rate on deposits in Peruvian currency / Este trabajo evalúa empíricamente el canal de tasas de interés en el mecanismo de transmisión de la política monetaria en el Perú, durante el periodo junio 2003-junio 2010, empleando datos mensuales de bancos individuales. Se estudian los dos principales instrumentos de política utilizados bajo el régimen de metas de inflación: la tasa de política monetaria y la tasa de encaje.Utilizando un modelo de datos de panel dinámico, nuestro trabajo tiene dos resultados básicos. En primer lugar, un alza de la tasa de interés de referencia tiene un impacto positivo y significativo sobre las tasas de interés de los préstamos comerciales fijadas por los seis bancos más grandes del país. En segundo lugar, no encontramos evidencia que sugiera que la tasa de encaje a los depósitos en moneda nacional influye sobre estas mismas tasas de interés fijadas por estos seisbancos durante el periodo analizado.

nÃo hà / A presente Tese à formada pela junÃÃo de trÃs estudos na Ãrea de microeconometria relacionada ao mercado de trabalho brasileiro, buscando levantar questÃes que buscam explicar os diferenciais salariais entre diferentes grupos presentes neste mercado. Em cada capÃtulo foi empregado trÃs diferentes metodologias de estimaÃÃo com o uso de diferentes bases de dados. No primeiro capÃtulo, AnÃlise dos Diferenciais de SalÃrios no Mercado de Trabalho Brasileiro a partir da OrientaÃÃo Sexual, procurou-se medir o diferencial de salÃrios a partir da orientaÃÃo sexual no mercado de trabalho brasileiro, fazendo uso da nova metodologia de identificaÃÃo de arranjos familiares apresentada no Censo de 2010 (IBGE). ApÃs estimar as equaÃÃes de salÃrios com correÃÃo do viÃs de seleÃÃo amostral proposto por Heckman (1979) os resultados apontaram na direÃÃo de ausÃncia de discriminaÃÃo contra as minorias de gays e lÃsbicas no mercado de trabalho nacional. O segundo capÃtulo, DecomposiÃÃo Contrafactual de Oaxaca-Blinder dos Diferenciais de SalÃrios por GÃnero e RaÃa no Mercado de Trabalho Privado Brasileiro com CorreÃÃo de ViÃs de SeleÃÃo Amostral: Uma AnÃlise para Setores EconÃmicos e Tipos de OcupaÃÃes, fez uso da base de dados da PNAD do IBGE (2013), quando se buscou analisar as principais causas da desigualdade salarial por gÃnero e raÃa no mercado de trabalho privado brasileiro detalhando por setores de atividade econÃmica e por tipos de ocupaÃÃo. Para se alcanÃar tal objetivo foi utilizado a metodologia de decomposiÃÃo salarial na mÃdia proposta por Oaxaca-Blinder (1973), apÃs a estimaÃÃo das equaÃÃes de salÃrios quando tambÃm foram feitas as correÃÃes da seletividade amostral. Os principais resultados apontaram para a importÃncia das variÃveis de capital humano para explicaÃÃo de grande parte do diferencial de salÃrios entre homens brancos e os demais grupos investigados via diferenÃas de dotaÃÃes, em especial, a variÃvel escolaridade que ajuda a reduzir o diferencial de salÃrios entre os homens brancos e as mulheres brancas e negras. Chama atenÃÃo a participaÃÃo em alguns tipos de ocupaÃÃes quando as mulheres brancas e negras ganham, em mÃdia, mais que os homens brancos. Por fim, a elevada participaÃÃo e representatividade do termo de intercepto, na explicaÃÃo do diferencial de salÃrios por gÃnero e raÃa, tanto no mercado de trabalho total, como na maioria dos setores econÃmicos e tipos de ocupaÃÃes investigadas explica a maior parte deste fenÃmeno, quando o homem branco ganha mais, simplesmente porque à homem e branco. O terceiro e Ãltimo capÃtulo, MudanÃas Estruturais nos Retornos Educacionais e nos Diferenciais Raciais de SalÃrios por GÃnero no Brasil para Diferentes Grupos de Idade: Uma Abordagem de RegressÃo QuantÃlica com CorreÃÃo do ViÃs de SeleÃÃo Amostral, fez 7 uso das PNADS de 2003 e 2013 e de tÃcnicas de regressÃo quantÃlica com correÃÃo de viÃs de seleÃÃo proposto por Buchinsky (1998b) para analisar mudanÃas nos retornos da educaÃÃo e nos diferenciais raciais de salÃrios por gÃnero e por grupos de idade no mercado de trabalho brasileiro entre os anos dois anos. Diferentes valores para os retornos da escolaridade e para os diferenciais raciais foram observados principalmente nos quantis mais elevados da distribuiÃÃo de salÃrios para quase todas as faixas de idade. Os retornos salariais das mulheres ficaram acima dos retornos salariais dos homens para todos os quantis estimados, em todos os grupos de idade, nos dois anos analisados. Por fim, nota-se uma reduÃÃo nÃtida nos retornos salariais para ambos os sexos e a melhora no padrÃo de discriminaÃÃo no mercado de trabalho brasileiro entre anos de 2003 e 2013. / This thesis is formed by the junction of three studies in Microeconometrics area related to the Brazilian labor market, seeking to raise questions that try to explain the pay gap between different groups present in this market. In each chapter was used three different methods of estimation with the use of different databases. In the first chapter, Analysis of Wage Differentials in the Brazilian labor market from the Sexual Orientation, sought to measure the wage differential from sexual orientation in the Brazilian labor market, using the new methodology of identification of family arrangements presented in Census 2010 (IBGE). After estimating the wage equations with correction of sample selection bias proposed by Heckman (1979) the results pointed in the direction of non-discrimination against minorities of gays and lesbians in the national labor market. The second chapter, Counterfactual decomposition of Oaxaca - Blinder Wage Differentials by Gender and Race in the Brazilian Private Job Market with Bias Correction Sample Selection: An Analysis for Economic Sectors and Types of Occupations, made use of the National Household Survey database IBGE (2013), when it sought to analyze the root causes of wage inequality by gender and race in the Brazilian private labor market detailing by sectors of economic activity and types of occupation. To achieve this goal we used the wage decomposition methodology on average proposed by Oaxaca - Blinder (1973), after the estimation of wage equations when the corrections were also made of the sample selectivity. The main results pointed to the importance of human capital variables to explain much of the wage gap between white men and other groups investigated via differences appropriations, in particular the variable schooling that helps reduce the wage differential between white men and white and black women. Noteworthy is the participation in some types of occupations when white and black women earn on average more than white men. Finally, the high participation and representativeness of the intercept term, the wage differential explanation by gender and race, both in the overall labor market, as in most economic sectors and types of occupations investigated explains most of this phenomenon when the white man earns more , simply because he is man and white. The third and final chapter, Structural Changes in Education Returns and Differential Wage Race for Gender in Brazil for Different Groups of Age: An Approach of quantile regression with bias correction of Sample Selection, made use of the National Household Survey 2003 and 2013 and quantile regression techniques with selection bias correction proposed by Buchinsky (1998b) to analyze changes in the returns to education and racial differentials by gender wage and age groups in the Brazilian labor market between 9 the two years. Different values for the returns of schooling and racial differences were mainly observed in the highest quantile of the distribution of wages for almost all age groups. The wage returns of women were above the wage returns of men for all estimated quantile in all age groups in the two years analyzed. Finally, it is worth mentioning the reduction in wage returns to both sexes and the improvement in the standard of discrimination in the national labor market between the years 2003 and 2013.

We examine the gender gap in school attendance of children aged 7-14 in India using National Family Health Survey Three (NFHS-3). We demonstrate that the choice of the sample examined has important implications for policy. A household decision model is used to motivate whether a child attends school and/or works. A bivariate probit model and Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition are applied to see how changing sample groups and adding regressors impact results, and the implications this has upon gender gap and effectiveness of centralized policy as opposed to decentralized policy. Results show the gender gap is sensitive to the sub samples chosen (e.g. a particular state, a specific location (urban or rural), and gender) and to the choice of regressors, and that centralized policy may be less effective than decentralized policy. Parental education, wealth, location and gender are found to be the most volatile and influential variables in the household decision process. / Graduate

Um Bibliotheken auch für Blinde und Sehbehinderte attraktiv zu gestalten, hat die Deutsche Zentralbücherei für Blinde (DZB) zusammen mit den Öffentlichen Bibliotheken Sachsen eine Initiative zur Inklusion gestartet.

La relation entre capital humain et employabilité bien que clairement démontré d'un point de vue théorique n'est cependant pas toujours vérifiée de façon empirique. On peut ainsi constater un paradoxe de l’éducation dans les pays MENA où le taux de chômage augmente avec le diplôme et où les taux d'activité et plus particulièrement les taux d'activité des femmes sont faibles. Nous cherchons donc, à travers trois études empiriques, à mettre en évidence les éléments pouvant contrarier cette relation entre accumulation du capital humain et employabilité. Nous portons tout d'abord notre attention sur la Tunisie et le Maroc où le taux de chômage des diplômés du supérieur est particulièrement important. Nous menons dans un premier temps une analyse macroéconomique concernant ces pays avant de mener une analyse microéconomique en nous focalisant sur la région de Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz où nous analysons la relation entre le niveau d’éducation et l’accès à un emploi rémunéré. Notre seconde étude se positionne sur le marché du travail français où nous analysons l’accès à l’emploi ainsi que le différentiel salarial afin de déterminer si l’existence de « discriminations » peut contrarier la relation entre capital humain et employabilité. Enfin, notre troisième étude complète notre précédente approche concernant l’accès à l’emploi en prenant en compte des parcours scolaires des jeunes et plus seulement de plus haut diplôme obtenu. / The relationship between human capital and employability is clearly demonstrated by the review of the theoretical literature however, not always verified empirically. We can thus see a paradox of education in MENA countries where the unemployment rate increases with the degree and where participation rates and especially female activity rates are low. So we’re looking through three empirical studies to bring out the elements that can upset the relationship between accumulation of human capital and employability. First we bring your attention to Tunisia and Morocco where university graduates unemployment rate is particularly important. We lead initially macroeconomic analysis for these countries before leading a microeconomic analysis by focusing on the region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz where we analyze the relationship between the level of education and access to paid employment. Our second study is positioned on the French labor market where we analyze the access of employment and the wage differential to determine whether the existence of “discriminations” can upset the relationship between human capital and employability. Finally, our third full study our previous approach regarding access to employment, taking into account the educational pathways of young people and not the highest degree obtained

Submitted by Andre Mancha (andre.mancha87@gmail.com) on 2018-08-29T20:32:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation-eesp-fgv.pdf: 569610 bytes, checksum: 160598b7f611722cee28985a77177bb5 (MD5) / Rejected by Joana Martorini (joana.martorini@fgv.br), reason: Fora das normas ABNT. on 2018-08-29T20:41:05Z (GMT) / Submitted by Andre Mancha (andre.mancha87@gmail.com) on 2018-08-30T14:29:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation-eesp-fgv (final).pdf: 964294 bytes, checksum: 82aaf5cc2fc6ee9324bf6de691484d44 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Joana Martorini (joana.martorini@fgv.br) on 2018-08-30T14:37:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation-eesp-fgv (final).pdf: 964294 bytes, checksum: 82aaf5cc2fc6ee9324bf6de691484d44 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-08-30T15:37:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation-eesp-fgv (final).pdf: 964294 bytes, checksum: 82aaf5cc2fc6ee9324bf6de691484d44 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-30T15:37:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertation-eesp-fgv (final).pdf: 964294 bytes, checksum: 82aaf5cc2fc6ee9324bf6de691484d44 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-02 / Since 1998 in the Public Administration there are statutory workers ('estatutários') and others hired by the CLT labor regime ('celetistas'). Thisfact occurs due the Constitutional Amendment number 19 , formulated that year, which has changed the article 39 of Brazilian Constitution. It allowed public entities to hire employees under CLT legislation. This situation lasted until 2007 when the Supreme Court of Brazil suspended such modification and so the original understanding of the Constitution was reestablished. This work intends to evaluate the wage differential between statutory and CLT employees by means of an econometric approach. Using a fixed effectsregression we have analyzed the impact of the labor regime upon public workers wages and using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition we quantified how much of such differential is due the labor regime and how much is due to the individual characteristics (education, tenure and others). There are evidences that CLT workers have in average wages R$ 310.00 lower than statutory. Controlling by occupation we also see a negative prize to CLT worker to all groups except by the High Skilled Workers that have a salary R$ 95.98 higher than the Statutory. Low Skilled Workers show the smallest differential (R$ 12.20) followed by Teachers and Researchers (R$ 85.27) and Technicians (R$ 97.11). The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition shows that the largest part is not explained by endowments differences. The spending with wages and benefits to public employees is one of the main debates in the current scenario of fiscal adjustment facing the relevant increase of Public Debt in the last years. The Brazilian society has a perception that the Government has an excessive amount of workers and furthermore these onesreceive higher wages without a reasonable explanation when compared to similar occupations in private companies. At the end of 2017 the Brazilian Government presented an action plan to reduce the spending with wages and benefits of public employees. Among the proposals there were a decrease in the initial salary of public service and an increase in the public pension plan contribution. / Desde o ano de 1998 coexistem na Administração Direta, Autarquias e Fundações Públicas, funcionários públicos estatutários e 'celetistas'. Esta situação decorre da Emenda 19, a qual alterou o artigo 39 da Constituição e permitiu que estas entidades contratassem funcionários pela CLT. Essa situação perdurou até o ano de 2007, quando o Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF)suspendeu liminarmente (ADI 2135) a nova redação e dessa forma restaurou a situação original, válida atualmente. Este trabalho se propõe a medir a diferença no salário entre servidores públicos estatutários e celetistas por meio de uma abordagem econométrica. Utilizando uma regressão de efeitos fixos foi analisado o impacto do regime de trabalho sobre o salário dos servidores e por meio da decomposição de Oaxaca-Blinder estimou-se quanto desta diferença decorre do regime de trabalho e quanto se deve às características dos indivíduos de cada grupo (escolaridade, experiência e outros). Há indícios de que os celetistas recebem um salário R$ 310.00 menor do que seus pares estatutários. Controlando os efeitos de cada profissão há um diferencial negativo para todas os celetistas exceto para os profissionais de alta qualificação os quais possuem um salário R$ 95.98 maior do que os estatutários. Com relação aos outros grupos, os profissionais de baixa qualificação apresentam o menor diferencial de salários (R$ 12.20) seguido por professores e pesquisadores (R$ 85.27) e técnicos (R$ 97.11). Na decomposição do diferencial a maior parte não decorre de diferenças nas características dos indivíduos de cada grupo. O impacto dos salários e benefícios de funcionários públicos sobre as contas públicas é um dos principais pontos debatidos dentre as propostas que englobam o plano de ajuste fiscal do Governo Brasileiro. A percepção atual da sociedade é que além do governo contar com um contingente significativo de servidores públicos, estes recebem maiores salários quando comparados a trabalhadores em atividades semelhantes na iniciativa privada. Nesse contexto o governo federal apresentou no final de 2017 uma série de medidas para adequação dos gastos com folha de pagamento de servidores públicos, dentre elas a redução do salário inicial e elevação da contribuição previdenciária destes trabalhadores.

This thesis focuses on gender based differences in occupational allocation in Central-European countries, i.e. in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The main goal is to find out how much of the gender differences is related to women being equipped with higher/lower human capital in comparison to men. This thesis uses data from 2010 Life in Transition Survey provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Focus will be placed on white/blue collar occupations split. For the empirical analysis an extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition for binary dependent variable model provided by Fairlie (2005) will be used.

This paper analyzes how the explained and unexplained part of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition has changed due to a shift in attitudes towards immigrants in Germany. We use the migration crisis in 2015 as an exogenous source of variation in attitudes towards immigrants. As many studies analyze labor market discrimination, there are very few studies examining discrimination in the German labor market by conducting a natural experiment. In contrast to previous empirics, this paper sets out to explain and decompose the differences between immigrants and natives using a rather unique method. This paper is based on data from the European Social Survey (ESS) conducted in 2014 and 2016 and is analyzed using measures of public attitudes, the linear probability model, and the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. The results indicate that there are rather great differences in employment probabilities, human capital and family constellations between immigrants and natives. Measuring public attitudes, it is evident that there has been a general decline in positive attitudes towards immigrants post the migration crisis in 2015. Analyzing the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, it is evident that the unexplained (discriminatory) part of the decomposition has decreased which is referred to as a decrease in discrimination in the labor market. Even though that a general decline in positive attitudes towards immigrants is present, an increase in the unexplained part of the decomposition is not observed. As no correlation between public attitudes and the unexplained part of the decomposition is apparent, it is most likely that employers base their employment decision on the extent of information provided. This indicating that discrimination in the labor market most likely is due to statistical discrimination and not due to the preferences of the employer.

Le secteur public joue un rôle important dans la société. Dans la plupart des pays en développement, les dépenses publiques constituent une partie importante du PIB et les entités du secteur public sont les principaux pourvoyeurs d’emploi et les principaux acteurs du marché des capitaux. Le secteur public détermine, généralement par le biais d'un processus politique, ses objectifs économiques et sociaux ainsi que les différents types d'intervention à mettre en place pour les atteindre. Comment le secteur public atteint ses objectifs constitue une question cruciale étant donné que sa taille et son importance économique en font un moteur principal de la croissance et du bien-être social. Ses performances sont jugées à travers la qualité et la nature de sa gestion des finances publiques, les infrastructures qu'il finance ainsi que la qualité de sa régulation des activités économiques. La manière dont les activités du secteur public délivrent les résultats attendus est ainsi une variable clé du développement; pourtant les études empiriques pour comprendre ce qui fonctionne dans le secteur public et pourquoi restent remarquablement limitées. Deux principales raisons expliquent cette situation: les performances dans ce secteur sont difficiles à analyser car les outputs des divers services qu’il fournit sont difficiles à mesurer et même à définir, et le manque de données quantitatives et qualitatives rend difficile une analyse économétrique rigoureuse.Dès lors, l’objectif de cette thèse est de documenter cette littérature et de proposer différentes méthodes empiriques pour évaluer les performances du secteur public dans les pays en développement. Notre analyse est organisée comme suit: la Première Partie - Chapitres 1 et 2 - présente deux essais sur l’évaluation des performances du secteur public “en amont” tandis que la Seconde Partie - Chapitres 3 et 4 - présente deux essais sur l’évaluation des performances du secteur public “en aval” Le Chapitre 1 fait usage de la technique de Blinder-Oaxaca pour examiner comment la qualité des institutions budgétaires affecte les performances budgétaires – déficit budgétaire et dette publique - en Afrique sub-Saharienne. Dans le Chapitre 2, nous utilisons une approche par le Synthetic Control pour étudier l'impact des Offices de Recettes sur la mobilisation des ressources publiques dans une vingtaine de pays en développement. Le Chapitre 3 présente un Benchmarking systématique des performances infrastructurelles de l'Afrique dans les secteurs de l'électricité, de l'eau et de l’assainissement, des technologies de l'information et de la communication, et des transports. Enfin nous évaluons, dans le Chapitre 4, les effets de la mise en place d'une Autorité Indépendante de Régulation sur les performances du secteur de l'électricité dans les pays en développement. / The public sector plays a major role in society. In most developing countries, public expenditure represents a significant part of gross domestic product (GDP) and public sector entities are substantial employers and major capital market participants. The public sector determines, usually through a political process, the outcomes it wants to achieve and the different types of intervention. How the public sector achieves results matters as its size and economic significance make it a major contributor to growth and social welfare. Its achievements emerge in the quality and nature of its financial management, the infrastructure it finances and the quality of its social and economic regulation. How well those public sector activities deliver their expected outcomes is a key development variable; yet explicit evidence base for understanding what works and why in the public sector remains strikingly limited compared with other policy areas. There are two main reasons for this situation: the performance in these areas is difficult to analyze because the outputs of many such services are hard to measure or even to define, and the lack of quantitative and qualitative longitudinal data precludes rigorous econometric analysis.Therefore the objective of this thesis is to document this literature and to propose different ways of measuring public sector performance in developing countries. The dissertation is divided into two Parts: the first Part – Chapters 1 and 2 – presents two essays on “upstream” public sector performance while the second Part – Chapters 3 and 4 – presents two essays on “downstream” public sector performance. The Chapter 1 makes use of the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition to examine how the quality of budget institutions affects fiscal performance – Primary Balance and Public Debt – in sub-Saharan Africa. In Chapter 2 we use a Synthetic Control Approach to investigate the impact of Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities (SARAs) on revenue mobilization in twenty developing countries. The chapter 3 provides a first systematic Benchmarking of Africa’s infrastructure performance on four major sectors: electricity, water and sanitation, information and communication technologies, and transportation. Finally we evaluate the effects of the establishment of an Independent Regulatory Authority (IRA) on electricity sector performance in developing countries in Chapter 4.