Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Clare Romanik on International Issues

Africa's cities purchase much more food domestically than the continent imports or exports; they represent economic hope if rural and peri-urban producers learn to meet their particular food demands, including more meat, dairy, and processed foods. Increased efficiency will come with more onsite processing, contract enforcement, and distribution centers. Best practices from South Africa include the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market and Thohoyandou Spar Supermarket requiring their agents to purchase a share of their fresh vegetables from small growers. Efforts to strengthen regulation and raise standards must remember that the urban poor depend on public markets, the informal sector and "inferior" products.

The study's primary purpose is to provide background and analysis on existing realities in Uzbekistan as input into USAID's thinking in respect to the timeliness and appropriateness of local government assistance. This assessment addresses the basic legal institutional framework for subnational government in Uzbekistan. It also describes how the central and respective local government tiers interact in practice and, how, at the municipal level, government is organized and operates, most importantly in respect to budgeting and the delivery of basic urban services. In addition, the assessment examines the role of mahallas (a traditional, neighborhood-based form of community self-governance) which have largely been absorbed into the system of state administration. The authors hope that the report will also serve as an informational resource for other parties interested in improving the effectiveness and responsiveness of local government in Uzbekistan.

This report summarizes the proceedings and lessons learned from a series of courses on urban development designed for USAID's field staff. There were two courses delivered: Development and Cities (given twice), and Cities and Economic Growth. The former discussed a broad range of urban issues ranging from slum upgrading/participatory management to disaster mitigation, and included participants from both USAID and its partner organizations. The latter covered mobilizing private resources for urban economic growth, the role of local government in promoting economic growth, etc. This final report includes agendas, case studies, evaluation results, focus groups, surveys, and a list of participants.

This report analyzes the distributional impact of Romania's 1999 Law on Local Public Finance, and makes recommendations for ameliorating its adverse effects. By providing a stable revenue source for municipalities, this law improves the investment planning and financial management capabilities. However, in a survey of local councils, the authors find that the law tends to favor councils with strong revenue-collecting capacity and wealthier tax bases. The councils that lack these attributes witnessed a serious decline in their revenue sources. The report makes a series of recommendations for how to counter the negative distributional effects of an otherwise commendable law.

This analysis compares the housing-utility burden of Russian households under the current (1996) subsidized rate scheme with the burden they would experience under a full cost recovery scheme. Special attention is given to the relative impact of the new scheme on households in different expenditure categories and on households living in urban and rural areas. This report finds that if a full cost recovery scheme were implemented, an estimated 54% of households would have serious difficulties meeting the costs. However, the study finds that even after setting aside funds for housing allowances to assist these households, the municipalities' revenues from the full-cost scheme will outweigh their expenditures.

This paper describes in preliminary terms a methodology that the Ministry of Finance or other interested organizations in the Czech Republic can use to characterize the financial condition and debt position of Czech municipalities by using financial performance indicators. It also provides an example of applying that methodology in analyzing three groups of small municipalities in the District of Znojmo.

This report is based on an analysis of a survey conducted at the 1996 and 1997 Conferences on Financial Management and Development of Municipalities. The survey covers municipalities in the Czech Republic and was designed to determine why the municipalities were not applying certain methods for planning and investing. A second objective was to determine the attitudes of local officials regarding credit to finance local capital investment projects. This report presents the survey findings and concludes with a summary of the respondents' self-assessment concerning their ability to plan and finance investment projects.

This report contains findings from a housing survey conducted in Panama during the fall of 1995. The objective of the survey was to learn more about the demand for housing among the low- and middle-income urban population that is not well served by public sector housing programs. Focusing on the underserved population provides insights into the behavior of households engaging in market transactions that are relatively uninfluenced by public assistance. The information in this report provides a valuable resource for those who wish to design policies to assist low- and middle-income households in Panama and elsewhere.

[© Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies] Under the dwelling purchase certificate program a retired or demobilized Russian officer returning from the "near abroad" is given a certificate which he can use to purchase a new housing unit in the market. The certificate is priced at estimated market price of dwellings, and prices vary by unit size and location (region). There was great uncertainty when the program was launched as to whether officers would find units available for purchase. In fact, most officers succeeded in using their certificate and most contacted several sellers in searching for housing.