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Showing all content in Kenya
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Project
Optimising labour sourcing for technology workers in small businesses
This project aims to find evidence on what will help firms source and retain high-quality workers. In partnership with Shortlist, an innovative hiring platform for firms, mainly in high-growth, technology-related sectors, the project will use existing and new data on the market to identify constraints to sourcing high-quality and well-matched workers. The project will...
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Project
Accelerating investment into women-led start-ups
This research will examine whether two interventions affect investor behaviour regarding women-led firms: the use of revenue sharing investment models and mindset training around gender bias. The initial stage will establish a basis for understanding the potential mechanisms through which investment structures and mindset training could affect investor activity, with an...
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Project
Targeting consulting services to high-growth entrepreneurs
This pilot project will examine entrepreneur selection and matching for training programs as well as the ultimate impact of matching strategies on entrepreneur outcomes. Specifically, the researchers will evaluate the effectiveness of various marketing strategies in selecting entrepreneurs that have high potential for growth and improving the effectiveness of the training...
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Project
Unequal access to big contracts: Evidence from the AGPO Programme in Kenya
Public procurements make up for roughly 12% of worldwide GDP and more in low-income countries. Evidence shows that small business growth is catalysed by demand shocks generated through public procurement. The Government of Kenya’s Access to Government Procurement Opportunities Program (AGPO) targets 30% of its procurement budget and simplifies application requirements...
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Blog post
How food prices changed during COVID-19: Evidence from Kenya and Uganda
COVID-19 induced a combination of supply and demand shocks, impacting price dynamics. We used real-time price data to track price dynamics between the lockdown and reopening phases in Kenya and Uganda. Results suggest that prices for essential food items were higher during the initial phase of lockdown, but changes in mobility patterns affected prices beyond the shutdown...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Non-tariff barriers and regional integration in the East African Community
We conducted surveys with a representative sample of over 1,500 traders in markets near the Kenya-Uganda border, as well as a census of border clearing agents, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Larger traders are more likely to engage in cross-border trade, likely because the fixed costs of trade barriers mean that per-unit costs fall heaviest on smaller...
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Blog post
Trade, informality, and corruption: Evidence from small-scale traders in Kenya
The COVID-19 pandemic has induced vast trade disruptions that have stunted firms’ sales, profits, and growth, particularly for small-scale traders. While many formal borders closed, small-scale traders crossing official borders must increasingly rely on informal border crossings to make a living. In Kenya, we surveyed small-scale traders to analyse their cross-border...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Tracking prices during COVID-19 in Kenya and Uganda
This project serves as a proof of concept exploring whether it is possible to collect high-quality, high-frequency price data at scale through a crowd-sourcing approach. We collected over 39,000 price quotes of essential food items in Kenya and Uganda between April 2020 and mid-March 2021, featuring a wide geographic coverage. The findings suggest that prices were...
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Blog post
Money or power? Choosing COVID-19 aid in Kenya
Participants in an experiment comparing demand for cash transfers and electricity subsidies in urban Kenya, overwhelmingly prefer cash given the proliferation of mobile money via platforms like M-PESA and preference for short-term liquidity. Conversely, in rural Kenya, slightly more respondents opted for electricity token transfers given that they face saving constraints...
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Publication - Project Report
Economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder farmers