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Blog post
Women empowerment in nutrition: Do women really have a say in preparing and providing food?
Decision-making capacity of women within the household and in the community is considered to be a reflection of their empowerment. In this note, Sweta Bhusan discusses one dimension of decision-making that revolves around procuring, preparing and serving food to household members. Even as we celebrate womanhood across the globe, scores of the 600 million women spread...
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Blog post
Determining the costs and benefits of Africa’s alignment with China
China’s economic model challenges that of the West, manifesting in a global economic imbalance. Africa is determined to align with China in this division, and China has its ambitions for Africa too. Despite China being Africa’s most favoured nation, politically and economically, what does the continent stand to gain from this asymmetric relationship? Napoleon once said...
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Blog post
Water and power: Mega-dams, mega-damage?
‘Water grabbing’ refers to a situation in which public or private entities are able to take control of, or reallocate, precious water resources for profit or for power — and at the expense of local communities and the ecosystems on which their livelihoods are based. The effects have been well-documented: examples include families driven away from their villages...
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Blog post
Using a mobile app to improve pre- and post-natal health in Myanmar
Human capital is a key factor for sustained economic growth (López-Casasnovas, 2007). Pre-natal and early-life health are particularly crucial pillars to economic development as they provide a foundation for the accumulation of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. They have also shown to be one of the highest-return socio-economic interventions available (Heckman, 2014...
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Blog post
Driving urban development: An agenda for accessibility
On the 8th September 2017, the World Bank, George Washington University and the International Growth Centre hosted the 4th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference: Building or Rebuilding Cities for Growth in Washington DC. The conference brought together top academics and practitioners to discuss the role sustainable cities play in economic growth and poverty...
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Blog post
Making the most of urban land: the role of rights and responsibilities
On the 8th September 2017, the World Bank, George Washington University and the International Growth Centre hosted the 4th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Research Conference: Building or Rebuilding Cities for Growth in Washington DC. The conference brought together top academics and practitioners to discuss the role sustainable cities play in economic growth and poverty...
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Blog post
World Habitat Day 2017
To mark 2017’s World Habitat Day, the theme of which is Housing Policies: Affordable Homes, we asked researchers working on housing to provide their thoughts on the future of urban housing policy: Could you give an example of an interesting policy that could help to tackle some of the housing challenges faced in developing cities? Simon Franklin: large scale low cost...
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Blog post
Tackling the big stink: Investing in water and sanitation systems
The question of how to finance water systems is not a new one. While drawing from lessons from the past, this post looks at the impact of investing in water systems, and the challenges funding mechanisms face. Not too long ago, today’s metropolises, London, Paris and Berlin, were grappling with similar questions to those that many developing country cities currently...
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Blog post
Waste management in India: Solving a social dilemma
In April 2016, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change notified the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, which mandated that waste generators segregate their waste before it is collected. However, there is no compliance with the rules at the household level. This column finds that while information and provision of dustbins leads to source...
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Blog post
Enhancing the benefits of formalisation under a new status in Benin
Providing information and assistance to informal firms increases formalisation, but the cost of the intervention is likely prohibitively high Existing evidence suggests that easing entry regulations and providing information on the formalisation process has had only a very limited impact on the formalisation of existing informal firms, especially with regards to tax...
Blog post
Trade liberalisation in developing countries: the importance of roads
Research on Ethiopia shows that trade liberalisation can boost the productivity of firms in developing countries, but only if they have access to good roads. Gains from trade liberalisation are not uniform within countries Many developing countries have liberalised trade in the hope that greater international exposure will improve the performance of local firms. Lower...