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The selection and the making of civil servants: Evidence from China’s College Graduate Civil Services programme
The quality, incentives, and ideologies of local civil servants greatly affect policy implementation and governance efficacy, especially in the developing world with weak formal institutions. This project aims to understand what shapes the background, preferences, attitudes, and behaviours of civil servants in rural China. Specifically, we focus on the College Graduate...
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Formalizing informal taxation: Evidence from the D.R. Congo
Informal taxation, which often involves contributing labour toward local public goods provision, is a frequently overlooked source of local public finance in developing countries. However, in most countries the incidence of informal taxation is regressive: poor households often contribute more work hours than better-off households, and at times the most disadvantaged...
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Tax evasion in customs: Firm level evidence from Uganda
Developing countries are constrained by a lack of resources to fund growth enhancing public investments. Trade taxes are one important source of tax revenues for almost all of these economies. Uganda is no exception: In fiscal year 2017/18 revenues from import duties (tariffs) alone contributed about 8.5 percent to total tax collection. For this project we propose to...
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Strengthening state capacity and enhancing bureaucratic effectiveness
Developing state capacity is essential for promoting economic growth and development. This does not only involve developing fiscal capacity of the state by improving its resource mobilization techniques but also ensuring that a well-functioning and motivated bureaucracy is in place that can deliver essential services. Over the last decade, a reasonably large literature...
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A synthesis of evidence on take home rations
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) in 2015-16, 38.4 percent of children in India under the age of five are stunted, i.e., have impaired growth and development. This rises to 41.2 percent in rural areas, ranking India 134th out of 151 countries. Devoting public resources to reducing micronutrient deficiencies in children is essential for improved health...
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Regional (dis)integration in the East African Community
Two forms of regional trade agreements are free trade areas and customs unions. In a free trade area, members liberalise trade with each other, but each country sets its own tariffs for imports originating from non-members of the agreement. A customs union goes one step further: members negotiate and adopt a uniform tariff schedule called a Common External Tariff (CET),...
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Review of Myanmar policies related to agricultural value chain finance
This project aims to increase understanding of the policy context and the potential to make policy reforms to increase formal agricultural value chain financing in Myanmar, by producing a report with policy recommendations. Inadequate access to finance can stifle the productivity and growth of agriculture, which is especially pertinent in the case of a country where about...
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The economic case for improving air quality in Kigali, Rwanda
Poor urban air quality is increasingly recognised as a cause of premature mortality. With transport contributing significantly to poor urban air quality in Kigali, it is therefore critical for research to be developed to better understand the options for policymakers. The Rwandan government has recently announced an ambition to electrify mobility in the country by...
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Informal workers and labour market risk during COVID-19 in India
Informal work, such as through casual, temporary, and contract work, is a defining feature of labour markets in many developing countries and more recently in developed countries. India has one of the highest shares of informal work in the world, estimated to be between 75-90 percent of all workers. It typifies the current concerns over informal workers suffering...
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Do farmers’ ability and community networks matter in agricultural adaptation to climate change? A case study of Bihar
The consequences of climate change have led to significant implications for agricultural productivity. Most especially in poorer Indian states such as Bihar, where farmers rely on traditional agricultural practices, have less room-to-maneuver in response to climate uncertainty – and the resulting changes to overall agricultural productivity. Although, mitigation and...
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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...