Tessa Bold
Tessa Bold is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Economic Studies (IIES) at Stockholm University. She was previously a Professor of Development Economics at the University of Frankfurt and holds a DPhil in Economics from Oxford University. Her research focuses on the modernization of agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges of climate change for poor countries, among other topics.
Content by Tessa Bold
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Project
Making agricultural extension work by embedding extension workers into the supply chain
The low productivity of African agriculture is a major reason for poverty on the sub-continent. While a green revolution has transformed rural livelihoods in large parts of Asia, most rural Africans still engage in subsistence farming. Uganda is a good case study in how dysfunctional agricultural markets undermine economic opportunity. The adoption of fertiliser and...
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Blog post
Sub-standard quality of fertilisers and hybrid seeds makes adoption of modern inputs unprofitable
With the introduction of new technologies such as fertiliser and hybrid seeds, agricultural productivity has experienced an unprecedented rise in the past decades in almost all parts of the world. But not in Sub-Saharan Africa. This blog examines a recent IGC study examining the fertilisers available in Sub-Saharan Africa. It turns out that there is a huge variation in...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Low quality, low returns, low adoption
The average quality of hybrid seeds and fertiliser is so poor that their adoption is not profitable at current prices, and this is a major reason why farmers in Uganda are not adopting modern agricultural inputs. Urea fertiliser, the most common type on the market, typically has 33% less nitrogen content compared to what is stated on the label. The average small...
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Project
Rural electrification: The potential and limitations of solar power
National grids in many African countries still struggle to provide reliable electricity to many of their citizens, especially in rural areas. Decentralised, small-scale solar panels have been proposed as one solution to the electrical impasse many rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa currently face. This project provides much needed experimental evidence both on...
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Publication - Working Paper
Low quality, low returns, low adoption: Evidence from the market for fertilizer and hybrid seed in Uganda
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Project
Dealing with fake agricultural inputs
Technology adoption in African agriculture is very low, constraining productivity and income for the rural population There is ample anecdotal evidence of fake agricultural inputs, but little empirical proof of the magnitude of the issue IGC research shows that retail-level inputs tend to be of poor quality, partly explaining poor adoption ...
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Project
Improving Services Delivery: An Assessment of Absenteeism Data
Teacher absenteeism remains a serious challenge in Uganda, with estimated rates of absence as high as 27 per cent. Evidence from other countries suggests that a monitoring scheme, combined with bonus payments, could reduce absenteeism, and improve education performance. However, it is unclear what form this scheme should take. Automated monitoring via cameras or punch cards...
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Project
The high returns to low-cost private schooling in a poor country
While research from the U.S., Latin America and Asia provides little evidence that private schooling leads to greater educational attainment relative to public schooling, new research from the developing world suggests the opposite. New research examining the case of private schooling in Kenya from Tessa Bold (University of Frankfurt), Mwangi Kimenyi (Brookings...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Scaling-up Proven Education Interventions: Evidence from an RCT in Kenya (Policy Brief)
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Publication - Working Paper
Scaling-up Proven Education Interventions: Evidence from an RCT in Kenya (Working Paper)
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Publication - Policy Brief
The High Return to Low-Cost Private Schooling in a Developing Country (Policy Brief)
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Publication - Working Paper
Private schooling cheaper and more effective than public alternative (Working Paper)
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Project
Scaling-up Education Reforms in Kenya: An Evaluation of the Nationwide 'Teacher Internship Programme'
This project will evaluate the nationwide roll-out of a controversial education programme in Kenya that has already been shown to raise student performance in small-scale randomized trials. In the process the project will provide insights on the external validity of micro evaluations, and on the political economy of scaling-up effective interventions. In August 2009 the...