Gharad Bryan
Gharad Bryan is a Research Programme Director for the IGC Cities research programme.
Bryan is a Lecturer in Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an Associate of the STICERD Economic Organisation and Public Policy programme. His research interests include development economics, behavioural economics, and experimental economics.
Content by Gharad Bryan
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Publication - Evidence Paper
IGC evidence paper - Cities
In this paper, we divide the field of urban development economics into three broad categories: agglomeration economies, density’s downsides, and spatial models of transportation and housing. The central question of agglomeration economics is if cities themselves actually increase productivity or if the observed relationship between density and earnings represents the...
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Publication - Project Report
State capacity in Punjab’s local governments: Benchmarking existing deficits
As the developing world urbanises, there is increasing pressure to provide local public goods and local governments are expected to play an important role in their provision. However, there is little work on the nature of capacity deficits faced by local governments and whether these deficits are acting as a constraint on performance. We use financial accounts data from...
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Project
Effect of capacity in delivery of urban services
As the developing world urbanises, there is increasing pressure to provide local public goods that allow people to live in dense communities. In Pakistan, this pressure is exacerbated by the rapid rate of urbanisation - by 2050, the urban share of the population is projected to be 60%. Therefore, a robust local government network is needed for the provision of essential...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Lessons learned from a scale-up of a seasonal migration RCT in Bangladesh
When development programmes expand from small-scale evaluations to large-scale implementation, the increase in size requires new administration and management practices. Project administration can potentially limit the effectiveness of programmes at scale even if there are few changes in implementation and delivery of service. In 2017, in partnership with Evidence...
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Data Item
Data: Encouraging seasonal migration to mitigate the consequences of a seasonal famine in rural Bangladesh
Hunger during pre-harvest lean seasons is widespread in the agrarian areas of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. We randomly assign an $8.50 incentive to households in rural Bangladesh to out-migrate during the lean season. The incentive induces 22% of households to send a seasonal migrant, their consumption at the origin increases significantly, and treated households are 8-10...
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Publication - Working Paper
No Lean Season 2017 summary of results
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Project
Cost effective panel data collection
Context and primary motivation for the study The urban literature on developing country cities is still growing. One of the major constraints, however, is access to good quality data. Existing data sources are often costly or difficult to get, frequently do not measure prices, are not individual specific, do not allow for tracking of individuals, and are available...
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Project
Cost effective panel data collection for Kampala
This Kampala based study will pilot methods for collecting low-cost, high-frequency panel survey data that improves on existing data sources in three ways. The data will provide information about prices (consumer prices, wages, and rents) at the individual and location level; The data will allow for the creation of commuting flows at the individual (or group)...
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Blog post
Sharing once hidden information: Credit bureaus, MFIs, and client welfare
For at least 30 years, the microfinance movement sought to provide credit in settings where strong constraints meant traditional banking methods weren’t feasible. One particular constraint to traditional banking methods was the high fixed cost of information gathering, storage and dissemination. Over time, this constraint has been relaxed as microfinance institutions...
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Project
Evaluating the impacts of the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system
Across the developing world, tens of millions of people live in large cities in which the cost of commuting and transport in general is extremely high. Existing evidence suggests that these costs may reduce the ability of poor households to access jobs and important amenities. Cities across the developing world are making significant investments in urban transport...
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Project
Randomised impact evaluation of farmer participatory innovative agricultural practices
Low production and productivity are problems that characterise the agricultural sector in Mozambique. Although most people in Mozambique practice agriculture, the sector contributes to a relatively low proportion of the country's GDP. Modern technologies such as chemical fertisers, improved seeds, irrigation, etc, could potentially increase agricultural productivity, but,...
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Project
Understanding the efficiency effects of a credit bureau: A cluster randomised controlled trial
Over the past 50 years microfinance institutions (MFIs) have worked on a model to provide credit without the usual infrastructure required by traditional banks. Increasingly, however, MFIs are looking for new ways of doing business, and as their scale and income increases, they are able to incorporate some of the features of modern banking, for example the use of a credit...
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Multimedia Item - Audio
Africa Growth Forum 2015: Gharad Bryan
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Multimedia Item - Video
IGC cities research group 2015: Gharad Bryan
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Publication - Policy Brief
Encouraging seasonal migration to mitigate the consequences of a seasonal famine in rural Bangladesh (Policy Brief)
In Bangladesh, during the annual seasonal famine, incomes decrease by 50-60% and expenditures on food drop by 10-25%. The government has instituted food or cash-for-work programs, while NGOs attempt to enhance income and employment mostly through credit and to a lesser extent through job training and marketing initiatives. However, there is a need for long term...
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Publication - Working Paper
Under-investment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh (Working Paper)
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Project
Encouraging seasonal migration to mitigate the consequences of a seasonal famine in rural Bangladesh
In the worst-affected region of Bangladesh, during the annual seasonal famine, incomes decrease by 50-60% and expenditures on food drop by 10-25%. The government has instituted food or cash-for-work programs, while NGOs attempt to enhance income and employment mostly through credit and to a lesser extent through job training and marketing initiatives. However, there is a...