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Project
Tracking price dynamics during a pandemic in Kenya and Uganda
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds across the globe, economies face disruptions in global and national supply chains due to the pandemic itself and related government response measures. The disruptions pose a serious threat to food security. In Kenya and Uganda, policymakers are particularly worried about COVID-19 induced price spikes and supply shortages of essential...
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Project
Understanding the impact of COVID-19 in Patna's slums
This study seeks to address two related questions: First, what are the effects of COVID-19 in urban slum neighbourhoods in India? Second, how are differences in these effects related to these slums’ preexisting conditions? Our prior work on slum communities in Patna suggests that this population is particularly vulnerable to both health and economic shocks...
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Project
Can peer and neighbourhood effects improve maternal health outcomes in rural Bihar: Assessing the role of formal and informal networks
Bihar is a state with a long history of poor maternal health indicators. At the onset of the National Rural Health Mission in 2005, Bihar was listed as one of the High Focus states, and special attention was paid to improving health indicators. Data from the latest round of the Demographic Health Survey indicates that such attempts have not been successful. Policy...
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Project
Child marriage in Bihar: The role of insecurity and migration
According to the recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015-16) data, 39.1% of women in India within the age-group of 20-24 years are married before 18 years. In Bihar, the problem is much more acute with 42.5% of the girls in this age group having been married before 18. Though over the years the situation has improved in the state, some worrying statistics show...
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Project
Social identity, taste bias and under provisioning of public goods
Data shows that public good provision in India decreases with an increase in caste-based fractionalisation. While past research (Banerjee and Somanathan, 2007) documents this association, the causal interpretation and the deeper mechanisms driving the result is an open question. This project aims to plug this gap by identifying the precise causal connection between caste...
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Project
Using automated event detection to reduce data collection costs with an application to the BFRS dataset
The project aims to replicate and extend the BFRS dataset (which measured political violence in Pakistan, based on press reporting, from 1988 to 2011) by using machine learning and algorithm techniques. Incident-level data on political violence has been analysed to study causal linkages between terrorism and economic growth. Such research aids policymakers in formulating...
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Project
Pakistan energy consumption and participation survey
This study addresses a core focus for IGC’s goal of promoting sustainable economic growth: what happens to the relationship between citizens and their representatives when traditional state services in large urban municipalities such as water, electricity and garbage collection are privatised? Preliminary evidence from the IGC study conducted by Haider in 2018 suggests...
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Project
COVID-19 and tourism in Uganda
COVID-19 is having a devastating effect on the global economy and for many developing countries tourism seems to be the most affected sector. Especially since tourists from the north are likely to first opt for destinations that are both closer to home and equipped with better health facilities, the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in developing countries could be severe and...
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Project
Public reporting and property tax compliance: A field experiment in Kampala, Uganda (2020)
Property taxes are a key source of revenues for the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), accounting for over 35% of own source revenues in FY 2018/19. However, there is significant room for improvement in property tax revenue collection; only 30% of properties complied with the tax in FY 2018/19. Ongoing discussions with the KCCA and preliminary administrative data...
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Project
State engagement with religious leaders for effective COVID-19 crisis response
With the outbreak of COVID-19, many Muslim countries throughout the world including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Turkey and Iran imposed restrictions on religious gatherings and congregations, including the mandatory Friday prayer. In Pakistan, however, the state was unable to effectively negotiate with the religious leaderships and mosques remained open. In the...
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...