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Publication - Project Report
Supply chain trade in East Africa
Deeper regional integration is the main objective of the recently launched Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Supply chain trade both at the level of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and across RECs are to spearhead the AfCFTA. Indicators of Global Value Chains (GVC) participation show that even though the EAC and other African RECs have increased their...
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Publication - Policy Brief
The review of the Common External Tariff of the East African Community: Options for strengthening Uganda’s negotiating position
The East African Community is a customs union governed by a Common External Tariff (CET). The CET is currently under review, with members considering higher rates of external protection and an increase in the number of tariff bands. Uganda proposes to expand the current three-band structure of the CET (0, 10 and 25 %) by an additional 5 % rate and a new peak rate of...
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Publication - Policy paper
Housing policies in Rwanda: Riding the urbanisation whirlwind
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Publication - Policy Brief
Understanding productivity dispersion: Evidence from a new survey of manufacturing firms in Uganda
There are large productivity differences across firms in developing countries, even within the same sector and region. Understanding what contributes to such differences in productivity is important for designing policies to help low productivity firms grow. This project implemented a representative survey of over 1,000 manufacturing firms in Uganda to quantify...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Cooling developing countries: How income and climate drive air conditioning adoption
Over 90% of people living in hot areas lack air conditioning. The expansion of air conditioning in these areas will bring comfort but increase greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and refrigerant leaks and could stress electric grids. This study develops country-specific estimates of how air conditioning saturation relates to climate and household income and...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Tracking constraints to micro-entrepreneurship using IVR technology: Results from a pilot study in Kenya and Uganda
Current data collection exercises fail to capture the heterogeneity of entrepreneurs in developing countries in terms of scale. This project proposes a research agenda around understanding the constraints faced by micro-entrepreneurs, both formal and informal, through a series of mobile-based surveys (using IVR technology) delivered to small firms and...
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Publication - Policy Brief
How can Skill India improve outcomes for female trainees?
Skill India is a government programme which includes an initiative aimed at training and linking young women to employment opportunities. Not only are female participants of the programme less likely to accept a job offer than a male counterpart, but they are even less likely to accept one that involves some form of migration. This brief uses existing data to...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Staving off the hungry season in Zambia: Testing a simple and cost-effective approach
Multiple countries in sub-Saharan African experience seasonal extreme food insecurity, a phenomenon in some cases referred to as the “hungry season.” In Zambia, the context of this project, recent studies suggest that between 60-80% of rural households run out of food before the annual harvest. Seasonal food insecurity has serious impacts on health and wellbeing....
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Publication - Policy Brief
Examining the impact of the Common External Tariff of the East African Community in Uganda
The primary goal of the Common External Tariff (CET) of the East African Community (EAC) is to allow for free trade within a larger market than that of the individual countries that comprise it. The CET has, from inception, held a 0-10-25 tariff structure: 0% for raw materials, 10% for semi-finished products and 25% on finished products. Although this structure has...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Density in various forms
Indian census data suggests that around a third of citizens live in areas that could be considered urban, with this set to rise to about 40% by 2030. However, in addition to population numbers and density, the criteria to be considered urban also contains a less conventional stipulation that at least 75% of adult main male workers in an area must work in...
Publication - Growth Brief
Information and electoral accountability
Do more informed voters elect more qualified candidates? Numerous studies of varying scale and context reveal mixed evidence. Evidence appears stronger for structural interventions and mass communication than for more targeted interventions. Democracy is said to give citizens agency, as elections make it possible for them to remove poorly performing politicians....