Do Rural Infrastructure Investments Benefit the Poor? Evaluating Linkages--A Global View, A Focus on Vietnam

What are linkages between rural
infrastructure investments, and household welfare? In the
past, most of the evaluations to assess the effectiveness of
a project, focused on physical outputs, and success of
project implementation. In recent years, more attention has
been given to the impact of investments, particularly its
effect on the poor, both in economic, and non-economic
terms. The author presents findings from a survey of the
existing literature on such impacts. Although evidence
exists for improved household welfare from rural
infrastructure investment, little evidence was found of
studies that provided concrete linkages between specific
investments in rural infrastructure, and increased welfare
of the rural poor. This is due in part to the complexity,
and oftentimes the concurrent nature of interventions, that
make attributing welfare improvements, to a particular
project, virtually impossible. The evidence is presented in
this three-part paper. Part I gives examples of past, and
current attempts to assess the impact of rural
infrastructure projects, and provides suggestions for future
evaluations. Part II discusses in detail some observed
economic, and non-economic impacts on the poor, from
different rural infrastructure interventions. Part III
presents lessons learned from the literature on how to
maximize the impact of rural infrastructure interventions on
household welfare. Specific project, and country examples
from the literature, and new data from a recent qualitative
study in Vietnam, are presented as evidence for, and
illustration of key ideas, and issues.