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Publication - Project Report, Working Paper
Horticulture, and wood and furniture industries in Tanzania: Performance, challenges and potential policy approaches
This paper analyses two resource-based manufacturing industries in Tanzania: processing of horticultural goods and wood products and furniture. In several developing countries resource-based industrialization has worked as an engine of structural transformation. In Tanzania, these industries are still too small and inefficient. While industrial policy could help address the...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Simplifying property tax administration in Africa: Piloting a points-based valuation in Freetown, Sierra Leone
The current method of property valuation in Freetown, Sierra Leone is highly inaccurate and generally regressive, as it does not take subjective property characteristics that are major determinants of value into account. The newly elected Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr made revenue mobilisation a central pillar of her ‘Transform Freetown’ agenda. As a means of...
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Publication - Policy Brief
The local politics of social protection: Programmatic versus non-programmatic distributive politics in Kenya’s cash transfer programmes
A feature of many social protection programmes in Africa and elsewhere around the world is the delegation of significant responsibility to leaders and organisations at the local level. This brief looks at the extent to which social programmes are implemented programmatically —that is, according to the formal rules—or non-programmatically—that is, in a manner...
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Publication - Evidence Paper
Identity, norms, narratives, and state bureaucracy: Evidence from tax administration in Afghanistan
The effectiveness and legitimacy of a public organisation may depend to a large degree not only on institutional arrangement but also on the behaviour of actors within institutions and the interactions between the two. This paper argues that beliefs, in the form of identity, norms, and narratives, significantly affect bureaucratic effectiveness. They can have various...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Taxer les propriétaires fonciers à Dakar
Les impôts fonciers dans la région de Dakar offrent un potentiel énorme pour la mobilisation des revenus locaux, qui reste en grande partie inexploité. Les résultats d’une enquête de référence montrent que seulement 20% des parcelles sont inscrites au rôle d’imposition (données administratives), que 12% des propriétaires ont payé la taxe foncière en...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Taxing property owners in Dakar
Property taxes in the region of Dakar offer a huge potential for local revenue mobilisation, which remains mostly untapped Baseline results show that only an estimated 20% of plots are on the tax roll (administrative data), 12% of owners paid the property tax in 2018, and tax payments do not exceed 20% of theoretical tax revenues (survey data) The authors...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Urban mobility: policy decisions for connecting the city
This brief explores key trade-offs policymakers face in improving systems of urban mobility. Drawing on cross- city experience, it looks at addressing rising demands for private transport, options for formalising existing transport systems, and trade-offs policymakers face in investing in high capacity public transit.
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Publication - Policy Brief
Lessons learned from a scale-up of a seasonal migration RCT in Bangladesh
When development programmes expand from small-scale evaluations to large-scale implementation, the increase in size requires new administration and management practices. Project administration can potentially limit the effectiveness of programmes at scale even if there are few changes in implementation and delivery of service. In 2017, in partnership with Evidence...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Understanding the dynamics of unplanned settlements in Kigali, Rwanda
The city of Kigali has been growing at an estimated annual rate of 4-7% in recent years. Infrastructure and housing development have struggled to keep pace with this rapid growth, with the result that 79% of Kigali’s total population live in unplanned areas. To date, information on these residents has been limited. To address this gap, the researchers conducted a...
Publication - Growth Brief
Saving microfinance through innovative lending
The traditional microfinance model has had limited impact on the income and productivity of borrowers. More innovative and flexible lending models can boost entrepreneurship and welfare.