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Blog post
Low caloric intake and poverty among cycle-rickshaw peddlers in India
Improved nutrition has been found to have positive impacts on the earnings, cognitive function, and decision-making of the poor. This holds great potential if complemented by nutrition education, and supported by policy and government investment. One-seventh of the world’s population consumes fewer calories than recommended by health officials. In India, this number is...
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Blog post
Health policy and economic growth in India
A new synthesis paper (Menon 2017) produced by the International Growth Centre brings together evidence from various health-related IGC studies on India undertaken over the past seven years, to draw implications for health policy. At a workshop organised by IGC in collaboration with Ideas for India and Indian Statistical Institute, Srinath Reddy (Public Health Foundation...
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Blog post
The impact of parliamentary debates on Ghana’s 2016 elections
Both televised and radio debates increase informed and tolerant voter behaviour, boding well for peaceful elections in young democracies. Electoral debates have a long history in democratic politics. The most famous such event was the televised interaction between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. Today, debates are held in over 60 countries across all regions of the world, from...
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A call for resilient cities: Weather shocks & disease in Dar es Salaam
A recent IGC Working Paper looks at the relationship between extreme rainfall, flooding, infrastructure and cholera incidence in Dar es Salaam. Climate change will have a significant impact on the lives of the poor in the years ahead as extreme weather events, such as floods, heavy precipitation and droughts, are expected to become more frequent. As cities in sub-Saharan...
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Blog post
Chinese investment in Africa
Chinese investment in Africa, while less extensive than often assumed, has the potential to generate jobs and development on the continent So much has been written about China’s economic engagement in Africa that one is often left with the impression that the Chinese are playing a major role in the development of African economies – for better or worse. While hundreds...
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Blog post
The impact of extending female compulsory education on child health in Turkey
Turkey’s education system reform in 1997 required females to extend their minimum years of schooling from five to eight years. Results document that the children of women who were impacted by the reform are healthier at birth and less likely to die prematurely. Increasing female educational attainment in developing societies has been advocated by many for different...
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Blog post
Six insights for engaging community activists in rural development
You can’t overstate the importance of local organisations in providing services for their communities. Pakistan’s flash flood of 2012 washed away the water supply scheme and 1.5 kilometres of a road in the remote village of Kiyar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karimabad valley. After a week, the local community restored these services itself. In the hilly areas of northern...
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Public-private pacts in poultry and cotton for economic transformation in Mozambique
Promoting structural transformation and economic growth through public-private collaboration is key for development. While there is no shortage of economic transformation strategies, many have not been effectively implemented. Most strategies are general and multisectoral, and thus fail to address important sector-specific constraints. Additionally, failure to effectively...
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Blog post
The economic and political consequences of India’s demonetisation
The ruling party at the centre won the Uttar Pradesh state election despite its demonetisation policy having some negative economic impacts on the Indian economy. By combining primary data from surveys of wholesale and retail traders, with secondary data on wholesale markets, this column seeks to analyse why this was so. Experiments in macroeconomic policy are rare. One...
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Blog post
Building capacity in fragility: Key lessons from Fragility Commission’s 3rd evidence session
Generating effective government capacity is key to growth and development in fragile situations. However, many obstacles prevent governments from building up this capacity including an overwhelming list of problems to solve, weak leadership, corruption within institutions, and pressure from donors. In fragile and conflict situations, governments often have little...
Blog post
Why are there no microgrids in Pakistan?
Solar microgrids, with higher voltage distribution and decentralised generation, present a viable alternative to grid electricity in Pakistan. What’s more, demand exists for services beyond basic electrification. However, there are hurdles for microgrid deployment in the country. Namely, sophisticated demand, technological barriers, and legal constraints. An International...