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Project
Inclusive international trade: Assisting female-led firms in export development
While many lower- and middle-income countries aim to grow and diversify their exports, enabling small- and medium-sized firms to export and enter global value chains remains a key challenge. This is particularly true for female-led firms. These only make up 5-10% of all firms in the MENA region and overall less than 20% in other parts of the Global South. So far, there...
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Project
A field experiment on integrating rural migrants in cities: Mapping the city of Quelimane
The current rapid urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to lead to both economic development and political destabilisation. How can local leaders integrate rural migrants into labour markets with minimal harm to existing residents? And how does rural-urban migration change the political incentives and behaviour of local leaders, existing residents, and migrants...
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Project
Value chain development and public expenditure priorities in Rwanda’s agri-food system
The project will assess the potential social and economic impacts and trade-offs between and among different value chains and related public expenditures in Rwanda’s agri-food system. Using a forward-looking economy-wide model specifically adapted to Rwanda, the project will identify value chains that are most effective at fostering social and economic development along...
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Project
Measuring Rwanda's import and export of education and health services
International trade in services is increasing over the years. In Rwanda, one of the two service categories that are traded (both import and export) are health and education. For health, some Rwandan residents who need special medical treatment travel abroad to seek medical attention from specialists, while patients from some neighbouring countries come for medical treatment...
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Project
Informal clustering, firm growth, and the impact of the COVID-19 shock
In Kampala, firms are heavily concentrated in the Central Business District (CBD), where they operate next to one another in high-density, informal clusters (UBOS 2011). Manufacturing firms operating in these clusters are smaller than in terms of number of employees and do not grow over time. Demand shocks that arise from COVID-19 are likely to be more severe in denser...
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Project
Recovery from the COVID-19 shock and the informal labour market in urban Uganda
As COVID-19 cases continue to escalate across developing countries, many governments reimposed harsh lockdown policies, reversing months of gradual economic recovery. In Uganda, public transport and non-essential businesses were suspended for 42 days, echoing a prior shutdown through April-June 2020. These restrictions significantly impacted the informal economy, where...
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Project
Investigating FDI linkages in developing countries
Foreign investment into Uganda has been increasing in recent years. However, the extent to which this investment is yielding significant returns for the local economy is uncertain. To date, there is little known about the differential performance and impact of foreign firms in Uganda, and therefore limited evidence from which to design policies to make the most of Foreign...
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Project
Cross-sectoral movements of labour in a low-income country: Evidence from Uganda
In this project we plan to employ a newly sourced matched employer-employee dataset in Uganda to explore the cross-sectoral and cross-firm movement of labour in a low-income country. Using this data, we aim to shed light on: The extent to which workers are able to progress up the job ladder and match with good and productive employers; The relative importance of...
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Project
Vulnerabilities and solutions for Mozambican enterprises in face of the COVID-19 crisis
This study proposes to the National Directorate of Economic Policies and Development of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) of Mozambique to conduct a phone-based enterprise survey through a partnership with IGC and NOVAFRICA. The survey aims to inform MEF's response to the COVID-19 crisis, improving its capacity to offer adequate solutions to challenges posed by the...
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Project
Policy implementation in Uganda
Implementing government policies is essential to recover from the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and to foster economic growth through evidence-based policies. Anecdotal evidence and broad-based indices (e.g., World Bank Governance Indicators) strongly suggest that policy implementation is lacking in most sub-Saharan African countries. Reasons possibly...
Project
Female politicians and economic growth: Evidence from state elections in India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS7YtrR2yjU&feature=emb_logo The project studies close elections between men and women for election to India's state legislative assemblies. It finds significantly higher growth in economic activity in constituencies that elect women. Given average GDP growth in India of about 7% per year (during the study period), the researchers...