  We present a detailed phenomenological analysis of single-inclusive hadron
production at the CERN-LHC in both proton-proton and proton-lead collisions.
First data from the LHC experiments on charged hadron spectra are compared to
next-to-leading order QCD expectations, and predictions are made for identified
pion, kaon, and proton distributions differential in transverse momentum and
rapidity for LHC energies from 900 GeV to 14 TeV. The results are obtained with
the latest sets of vacuum fragmentation functions based on global QCD analyses,
and recently proposed medium modified fragmentation functions are used to model
hadronization in proton-lead collisions assuming standard QCD factorization.
Besides estimating theoretical ambiguities due to the choice of factorization
and renormalization scales and parton densities, we carefully assess
uncertainties due to our present knowledge of parton-to-hadron fragmentation
functions with the Lagrange multiplier technique. It is outlined to what extent
future LHC data will contribute to further our quantitative understanding of
hadronization processes.
