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\"When an old acquaintance reaches out to Stone Barrington requesting assistance, the job seems easy enough. She needs an expert in an esoteric field, someone with both the knowledge and careful dexterity to solve a puzzle. But the solution to one small problem blows the lid open on a bigger scandal going back decades, and involving numerous prominent New Yorkers who would prefer the past stay buried. With this explosive information in-hand, Stone Barrington is caught between a rock and a hard place, his only options either to play it safe to the detriment of others, or to see justice done and risk fatal exposure. But when it comes to Stone Barrington, danger is usually just around the corner ... so he may as well throw caution to the wind\"-- Provided by publisher.

The use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is an important development in infrastructure delivery. These contracts between a public-sector owner and a private provider bundle delivery services and provide a middle ground between traditional delivery and privatization. As of 2016, 35 states had enacted PPP-enabling laws that address such questions as the mixing of public- and private-sector funds, the treatment of unsolicited PPP proposals, and the need for prior legislative contract approval. We provide the first comprehensive empirical assessment of the laws’ impact on the utilization of private investment. We analyze the effect of a state having a PPP-enabling law and a law’s average impact. We also assess the impact of PPP-enabling-law provisions. We find that provisions that empower PPPs, such as exemptions from property taxes, exemptions from extant procurement laws, and confidentiality protections, attract private investment.

This study surveys and synthesizes the literature on foreign and domestic private investment over the period 1980-2022 with evidence from developing and emerging economies. The documentary sources method was used to examine one hundred and forty (140) peer-reviewed articles (selected based on source, journal of publication, database, time frame, relevance language, geographical restrictions, and search descriptions) published in a broad range of internationally recognized journals, with special analytical focus placed on forty (40) recent articles. It provides fresh evidence that literature on overall private investment and that of foreign direct investment have been given paramount interest and attention, but domestic private investment has received relatively diminutive attention to date. This review will serve as a roadmap, indicating the current state, contributions made, and unsolved issues in the extant studies as well as situating works to enrich the literature. It, therefore, offers specific directions for researchers, academics, and practitioners.

Foreign direct investment and private capital flows are highly concentrated geographically, with almost half of them reaching five top destinations. These flows tend to evade many high-risk countries. Regulatory and contractual risks, particularly in infrastructure, have inhibited investments in many parts of the developing world. A core objective of the World Bank Group (WBG) has been to support the flow of private investment for development; guarantees and insurance have been among the instruments that the WBG has used to pursue this objective. This study examines three main questions: • Should the WBG be in the guarantee business? • Have guarantee instruments in the three WBG institutions been used to their potential as reflected in WBG expectations and perceived demand? • Is the WBG appropriately organized to deliver its range of guarantee products in an effective and efficient manner?

Since the enactment of Law nº 12.815/2013, private agents have been allowed to build ports to mainly exploit it commercially, offering port services to anyone interested in moving cargo. This amendment to the legislation aimed to attract private investment to the sector, reducing Brazil’s existing port infrastructure deficit. This work evaluated private investments carried out during the period from 2013 to 2021 in port facilities after the new regulatory framework. The methodology was based on descriptive data analysis, using information from the regulatory agency’s administrative processes authorizing investment in port terminals. The results indicated that investments were focused especially in places where barriers to entry were lower, such as on the banks of inland waterways or, in the case of maritime facilities, where there was already waterway infrastructure managed by some public Port Authorities. La Ley n.° 12.815 de 2013 permitió a agentes privados construir puertos para explotarlos principalmente de forma comercial, ofreciendo servicios portuarios a cualquier persona interesada en mover carga. Esta flexibilización de la legislación tuvo como objetivo atraer inversión privada al sector y, en consecuencia, reducir el déficit de infraestructura portuaria existente en Brasil. Este trabajo evaluó las inversiones realizadas durante el período de 2013 a 2021 en instalaciones portuarias privadas después del nuevo marco regulatorio. La metodología implicó el análisis descriptivo de la base de datos, catalogada y sistematizada con base en los registros administrativos de la Agencia Nacional de Transporte Hidroviario (Antaq). Los resultados sugieren que las inversiones se concentraron en lugares donde las barreras de entrada eran menores, como en las orillas de vías navegables interiores o, en el caso de las instalaciones marítimas, donde ya existía infraestructura fluvial administrada por las autoridades portuarias públicas. A Lei n. 12.815, de 2013, permitiu que agentes privados construíssem portos para prioritariamente explorá-los comercialmente, oferecendo serviços portuários a qualquer interessado em movimentar cargas. Essa flexibilização da legislação teve como objetivo atrair investimentos privados ao setor e, consequentemente, reduzir o déficit de infraestrutura portuária existente no País. O presente trabalho avaliou os investimentos realizados durante o período de 2013 a 2021 em instalações portuárias privadas, autorizadas pelo poder público a se expandirem ou serem construídas após o novo marco regulatório. A metodologia envolveu a análise descritiva da base de dados, catalogada e sistematizada a partir dos registros administrativos da Agência Nacional de Transportes Aquaviários (Antaq). Os resultados sugerem que os investimentos se concentraram em locais onde as barreiras de entrada eram inferiores, tais como às margens de vias interiores navegáveis ou, no caso de instalações marítimas, quando já se tem a infraestrutura de acesso aquaviário construída e sendo gerida por Autoridade Portuária de portos públicos.

This study examines the impact of economic growth along with taxes, technology, trade openness and exchange rate on the sustainability of foreign private investment (FPI) in Pakistan. This study uses random effects and generalized least squares estimators and contains data set starting from 1996 to 2017. The results indicate that the Pakistan economy has vastly positive influenced regarding the location and choice of emerging and developed countries' investment in the domestic market. Furthermore, emerging and developed economies investment increases the contribution among domestic firms to the national economy. The results, which are consistent across models, indicate that Pakistan's economy is more likely to receive FPI from emerging and developed economies, but the relative intensity of local government efforts, regardless of economic size. Moreover, an increase in likelihood will generate FPI from developed countries.

A rationale for public investment in rural roads is that households can better exploit agricultural and nonagricultural opportunities to employ labor and capital more efficiently. Significant knowledge gaps persist, however, as to how opportunities provided by roads actually filter back into household outcomes as well as distributional consequences. This study examines the impacts of two rural road-paving projects in Bangladesh using a new quasi-experimental household panel data set surveying project and control villages before and after program implementation. A household panel fixed-effects methodology controlling for initial area conditions is used to estimate the impact of paved roads on household and individual outcomes and account for potential bias in program placement at the village level. Rural road investments are found to reduce poverty significantly through higher agricultural production, lower input and transportation costs, and higher agricultural output prices at local village markets. Rural road development has also led to higher secondary schooling enrollment for boys and girls, as compared to primary school enrollment. We find that road investments have also benefited the poor, meaning the gains are significant for the poor and in some cases disproportionately higher than for the nonpoor.

The role of gender in entrepreneurship has been thoroughly investigated. However, less is known about gender differences in access to private investment when attempting to develop a new technology. In this paper, we use data collected by the National Research Council of the National Academies to estimate differences between the probability that a female-owned firm and a male-owned firm, both conducting research funded by the Small Business Innovation Research program, will receive private investment funding to help to commercialize the funded technology. We find that female-owned firms are disadvantaged in their access to private investment, especially in the West and Northeast regions of the USA.

A Development Emergency: the title of this year's Global Monitoring Report, the sixth in an annual series, could not be more apt. The global economic crisis, the most severe since the Great Depression, is rapidly turning into a human and development crisis. No region is immune. The poor countries are especially vulnerable, as they have the least cushion to withstand events. The crisis, coming on the heels of the food and fuel crises, poses serious threats to their hard-won gains in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty. It is pushing millions back into poverty and putting at risk the very survival of many. The prospect of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, already a cause for serious concern, now looks even more distant. A global crisis must be met with a global response. The crisis began in the financial markets of developed countries, so the first order of business must be to stabilize these markets and counter the recession that the financial turmoil has triggered. At the same time, strong and urgent actions are needed to counter the impact of the crisis on developing countries and help them restore strong growth while protecting the poor. Global Monitoring Report 2009, prepared jointly by the staff of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, provides a development perspective on the global economic crisis. It assesses the impact on developing countries, their growth, poverty reduction, and other MDGs. And it sets out priorities for policy response, both by developing countries themselves and by the international community. This report also focuses on the ways in which the private sector can be better mobilized in support of development goals, especially in the aftermath of the crisis.

Infrastructure plays a key role in fostering growth and productivity and has been linked to improved earnings, health, and education levels for the poor. Yet Latin America and the Caribbean are currently faced with a dangerous combination of relatively low public and private infrastructure investment. Those investment levels must increase, and it can be done. If Latin American and Caribbean governments are to increase infrastructure investment in politically feasible ways, it is critical that they learn from experience and have an accurate idea of future impacts. This book contributes to this aim by producing what is arguably the most comprehensive privatization impact analysis in the region to date, drawing on an extremely comprehensive dataset.