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Blog post
Prospects for rural jobs in Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s burgeoning rural population are in need of off-farm employment which the heavily agriculture-reliant economy will struggle to provide. As available land becomes less accessible, rural youth need alternative sources of income to support themselves. To answer this, we surveyed households in Ethiopia on the types of income sources currently available and what...
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Blog post
Collecting tax revenue in Uganda: The carrot and stick story
Text messages focused on enforcement and information are most effective at collecting tax revenue, while encouragement affects the average taxpayer only with visible benefits. We collaborated with the Ugandan Revenue Authority to test whether and what types of text message reminders help raise government revenue. Specifically, we used an experiment to test how effective...
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Reinvigorating Yemen’s electricity system: Avenues for reform in the midst of war
The power generation system in Yemen is in a very poor state and urgently needs to be resuscitated. Achieving this will require switching to cheaper and renewable energy sources like solar, making key repairs to the transmission and distribution system, restoring livelihoods to off-grid communities through decentralised renewable energy systems, and making fundamental...
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Blog post
The promise and pitfall of technology: Evidence from tax collection in Ghana
Information technology (IT) systems are potentially transformative tools to increase local tax capacities. However, they must be carefully designed not only to increase tax collection but to minimise unintended outcomes. From a field experiment in Ghana, we find that technology improves local tax collection by expanding the effective tax base and improving compliance....
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العنوان الرئيسي: المشكلة الأكثر إلحاحًا في اليمن ليست الحرب، بل الاقتصاد. العنوان الفرعي: تركز جهود الوكالات الدولية على الأزمة الإنسانية بدلًا من الظروف الاقتصادية التي تسببت بها.
To read this blog in English click here. بقلم: رأفت الأكحلي في 22 سبتمبر، تعهد المانحون في اختتام اجتماع الأمم المتحدة الرفيع المستوى، والذي استضافته السّويد وسويسرا والاتحاد الأوروبي معًا، بتقديم 600 مليون دولار...
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Learning from Lagos
How a "lite" rapid transit system in the Nigerian city transformed commuting. In many emerging cities, public transit is informal and unregulated. Considerable quality of life, environmental, and health consequences result from this. At an individual level, many people are unable to afford public transit and must walk to work, which reduces their career opportunities,...
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Yemen’s most pressing problem isn’t war. It’s the economy
To read the blog in Arabic click here /انقر هنا للقراءة باللغة العربية On Sept. 22, a high-level United Nations meeting co-hosted by Sweden, Switzerland, and the European Union concluded with donors pledging an additional $600 million toward the U.N.’s $3.85 billion humanitarian response plan for Yemen. These pledges are vital, but...
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Working in a greener world: Tackling climate change and unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa
In the run up to World Cities Day and COP26, we take stock of the current predicaments of sub-Saharan African cities vis-à-vis sustainable growth needs, and the role that climate-sensitive industrial policy, diversified local economies, efficient governance, and decentralisation can play in helping Africa grow without sidelining the urgent and important issue of climate...
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Blog post
Not by growth alone: The salience of redistribution in poverty eradication
Recent studies posit that the per capita incomes of developing countries are at last on track to catch up to those of industrialised countries as policies and institutions in these countries are converging to those of the rich world. In this post, Enevoldsen and Pande contend that this country-level catch-up will not be sufficient to eradicate extreme poverty, as the...
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India’s rising unpaid care crisis: Prioritising social protection investments for inclusive economic growth
With India performing dismally in the domain of care work, and the pandemic having worsened the care crisis due to school and child care centre closures, along with mounting domestic work, it is imperative for policy responses to recognise and address the disproportionate burden of care on women. Low female labour force participation rates are a direct manifestation of this...
Blog post
Prospects for rural jobs in Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s burgeoning rural population are in need of off-farm employment which the heavily agriculture-reliant economy will struggle to provide. As available land becomes less accessible, rural youth need alternative sources of income to support themselves. To answer this, we surveyed households in Ethiopia on the types of income sources currently available and what...