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Project
Understanding the economic effects and resilience to COVID-19: Evidence from a cash transfer project in Kenya
COVID-19 is causing negative health and economic effects around the globe. Government measures to reduce transmission such as are challenging in many sub-Saharan African contexts, sparking an active debate about the most effective course of action from both epidemiological and economic perspectives. By using high-frequency phone survey data, this project aims to provide...
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Project
The impact of COVID-19 and flexible credit on SMEs: Evidence from Uganda
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of the Ugandan economy, comprising over 90 % of the private sector, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2011. This project will re-survey a sample of 2,400 SMEs in Uganda with the purpose of: Better understand the long-term consequences of increased flexibility in loan repayments, in particular: does...
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Project
Uganda and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
African economies, including Uganda, are embarking on an ambitious programme of regional integration in the form of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The objective of this project is to study the implications of the African Continental Free Trade Area for Uganda using an approach that accounts for the heterogeneity of the impact across products and firms....
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Project
Scoping study: Using network theory to promote adoption of new agricultural technologies in Sierra Leone
Despite substantial improvements in agricultural productivity across the world since the 1980s, productivity levels in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have not experienced similar increases. Such agricultural stagnation has significant implications for the majority of the sub-continent’s population who are engaged in smallholder farming, as agricultural development is integral...
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Project
Exploring interactions between national and local government taxes in Uganda
One key concern reported by taxpayers and tax authorities in Uganda is ‘double taxation’ on different sources of income from local and national revenue authorities. One example is rental income in Kampala city, which is taxed both by the Uganda Revenue Authority through rental income tax, and by the Kampala Capital City Authority in the form of property rates. Not only...
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Project
Electrifying growth in Sierra Leone: Energy access for productive use
In Sierra Leone, just 26% of the total population and only 6% of the rural population have access to electricity. Without electricity, 83% of rural households cook mainly using wood, resulting in deforestation, and health centres and schools not functioning effectively and efficiently. Researchers are working with the United Nations Office for Project Service and...
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Project
Women's mobility, job search, and employment: Follow-up evidence from a randomised control trial
Unemployment and economically inactive people are one of the biggest challenges facing urban labour markets in low-income countries. In South Asian cities, this pattern is more pronounced across gender lines with women less likely than men to participate in the labour market, even at relatively high levels of education. This project investigates the constraints on women’s...
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Project
Countering Islamic radicalisation in northern Mozambique: Radio campaigning and adolescent sensitisation in religious schools
In recent years, major global violent conflicts have happened in Muslim-majority countries. Of these conflicts, a substantial and increasing share has been related to Islamist insurgents. However, the process of radicalisation and the effectiveness of measures to counteract it are widely understudied. Northern Mozambique is where a substantial discovery of natural gas took...
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Project
Countering COVID-19: Real-time data from Pakistan
The on-going pandemic put a strain on the developed economy with a sharp collapse of GDP and mounting unemployment. Simultaneously, the fragile socio-economic structure of low and middle-income countries are extremely vulnerable to the pandemic's effects. Amongst the many constraints that local authorities face in responding to the pandemic, these countries have few...
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Project
COVID-19 and the value of relationships in informal economies
Governments in many developing countries have put in place restrictions to economic activity and mobility to curb the spread of the coronavirus. This is true also in Uganda, where public transport and non-essential businesses were closed from early April to June. While firms were closed, there were reports of workers leaving cities and traveling back to their home villages....
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...