For any developing country, infrastructure is at the core of economic growth and development. South Africa has a modern and well-developed transport infrastructure. The air and rail networks are the largest on the continent, and roads in good condition. To this degree of quality and quantity the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether or not public infrastructure investment contributes to economic growth, which is denoted as GDP per capita in this paper. The period of research is from 1960-2017. The Granger Causality method is applied, to find if a causal relationship exists between these two variables. Additionally, a log-log n OLS name of regression regression will beis run to see how variables, other than public infrastructure investment, affect GDP per capita. The endogenous growth theory is used as the main theory, in order to capture the essence of how the government endogenously affects output per capita in an economy. Findings reveal that there is a unidirectional relationship between public infrastructure investment and economic growth in South Africa. The direction of the causal relationship runs from public infrastructure investment to GDP per capita. Additionally, the infrastructure investment is found to be significant in the logged regression.  run. Which could impliesy that it affects economic growth. For further interest, a dummy variable was added in the regression to check whether the structural break in 1994 in South Africa has significantaffects the interpretation of the results.  changes in interpretation of results.This yielded in no significant changes in the results for infrastructure investment and GDP per capita.  (structural break and more important findings) (variables?) (what organisations can use these findings forFurther, Oorganisations and policy makers can use this paper as an indicator of how infrastructure investment plays a role in an economy, especially in developing countries.

In light of developing a nascent gas industry, present multiple challenges in restructuring, regulations and meeting infrastructure investments requirements. To identify an appropriate industry structure and provide suitable regulatory framework to attract adequate infrastructure investments are the requirement to maintain a viable nascent gas industry. The purpose of the study is to examine the conditions required for developing a viable nascent gas industry in Ghana. The study develops an analytical framework by combining the Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm and the Transaction Cost Economics theory with stakeholder consultation in an integrated cash flow model, which identified inappropriate industry structure, ineffective regulation and high risk as challenges in the gas industry in Ghana. The current gas industry structure and regulatory framework in Ghana is identified as state control monopoly. To strengthen the analysis of the study alternative gas industry structural models were reviewed. The Single Buyer Model (SBM) is suggested as an initial stage structure for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to commercialize upstream natural gas resources and ease transactions cost. However, the SBM is constrained by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) inefficiencies. The Multiple Buyer Model (MBM) is considered as a transitional structure to solve the existing hold-up and lock-in inefficiencies of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation-Ghana National Gas Company-Volta River Authority (GNPC-GNGC-VRA) firm structure. Enforcing open access regulations to essential infrastructure is required in the long run. Developing an integrated gas-to-power project in Ghana is a viable business. Nevertheless, non-associated gas production from the Sankofa Gas Project is risky and requires higher gas prices and alternative downstream consumers to be viable. The Gas Processing Plant and transmission pipeline tariffs are inappropriately set and requires regulations. Providing effective regulations and governance arrangements by establishing an independent regulator through a gas sector law are important in protecting the interest of various stakeholders in the nascent gas industry in Ghana.

No description available.

This thesis examines rural development processes, and in particular the impact over time of infrastructure investment on locational value in a farming community in northern Victoria, Australia. Correlation between infrastructure investment and land values was found to change over time, with the full cost of infrastructure provision not reflected in increased land values. Its impact depended on the type of infrastructure, and was linked to technological changes in agricultural production that led to different demands. The study also revealed the complexity of land ownership and use during the development of typical northern Victorian farmland, and the patterns of land value that emerged. As an historical study of land development it provides a deeper understanding of rural valuation methodology and sales analysis. It also contributes to the theory of land development, and in particular rural land-use and value.

This thesis discusses how ideas, as domestic factors, have decided the formation of China’smultilateralist foreign policy. It tries to provide an profound understanding of China's foreignpolicy development with the theoretical tools provided by discursive institutionalism andhistorical institutionalism.Three empirical cases are studied: the case of WTO, the case of ASEAN+3 and the case ofShanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). These three cases have represented China'sinvolvement of multilateral institutions at different time and level.The findings show that China has gradually turned to an active participants of multilateralinstitutions, and it is trying to constructing a new type of multilateralism: competitivemultilateralism. Whether it can be compatible with existing institutions is an open question. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

On Nov. 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The purpose of this legislation is evident in its name as it encompasses funding for “roads, bridges, railroads, airports, public transportation, access to broadband internet, and clean water” (Stradling, 2021). The revenue to support the $1.2 trillion Act will mainly result from “repurposing COVID-19 relief funds and unused unemployment benefits, delaying a Medicare rebate, and enacting stronger cryptocurrency reporting requirements" (Stradling, 2021). Although there are few provisions in this Act that will affect the average taxpayer, there are some that tax preparers should note.

No description available.

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) estimates it has a $33 billion (about 10 percent is airfield pavements) deferred maintenance backlog within its $263 billion infrastructure portfolio. Given the scope of this backlog and the importance of airfields, the USAF has a vested interest in finding strategies to help reverse this growing trend. Without an increase in funding, divestiture of excess infrastructure, or change in strategy, this backlog is estimated to climb to over $50 billion by 2030. Reversing the growing infrastructure backlog trend requires new methods and strategies to rethink how the USAF invests in its infrastructure. As such, the overall goal of this research is to develop a comprehensive and practical asset management approach to reduce the total cost of ownership of USAF airfield pavements. By reducing the cost of ownership, the goal is to reverse the growing maintenance backlog while maintaining a pavement portfolio capable of supporting USAF flying operations into the future. While this research is particularly relevant to the USAF, it seeks to fill research gaps within the current body of knowledge related to pavement management strategies for other agency types by presenting a practical, simulation-based methodology for work planning and budget allocation across a large pavement portfolio over a thirty-year period. The dissertation presents the development of the BEAST and RAMPSS algorithms. The BEAST algorithm is a simulation tool capable of modeling behaviors and decisions of 109 organizations managing a global network of airfield pavements over thirty years. Additionally, the BEAST is used to forecast outcomes of USAF investment decisions utilizing its current management strategies and historical behaviors. The RAMPSS is a simulation algorithm designed to select the most economical maintenance strategy for each pavement section in the USAF’s portfolio (i.e., individualized maintenance recommendation strategy for each pavement section). Analysis from the RAMPSS algorithm of the USAF’s pavement portfolio suggests that airfields are generally more cost-effective to maintain if kept in better conditions with strategies other than localized preventative maintenance. The USAF’s current maintenance strategy is unsustainable; however, switching to recommendations from RAMPSS (incorporated and modeled in the BEAST) provides a potentially significant course correction.

No description available.

Railroad transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) has grown significantly in recent years in Canada. Although rail is one of the safest modes for hazmat transport, the risk of catastrophic events such as the Lac Mégantic train disaster, does exist. In this thesis, we study a number of measures to manage and mitigate the risk associated with rail hazmat shipments. First, we propose a methodology that makes use of analytics to dis-aggregate national freight data to estimate hazmat traffic on rail-links and at rail-yards in Canada. Further, a focused analysis is conducted on crude oil rail shipments to develop long-term forecasts and evaluate the impact of proposed pipeline projects. Second, we present an emergency response planning problem, aimed at the effective and efficient response to rail hazmat incidents. A two-stage stochastic programming problem is solved over part of the Canadian railroad network, which provides recommendations on where to locate response facilities, and which equipment packages to stockpile at each facility. Finally, we study infrastructure investment as a strategy to mitigate the risk associated with rail hazmat shipments. This strategy is based on building new railway tracks to provide alternative routes to the riskiest parts of the network. Given the hierarchical relationship between the decisions made by regulatory agencies and railroad companies, a bilevel programming approach is used to identify the optimal set of infrastructure investment options given an allocated budget. Our computational experiments show that significant network-wide risk reduction is possible if hazardous shipments are routed using some of the proposed alternative rail tracks. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)