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Showing all content in Firms
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Blog post
Location, location, and information: Firm clustering in Kampala
A distinctive feature of business in Kampala is the clustering of similar products in particular areas of the city. Need a boda boda helmet to get to work? On Kyagwe Road in Old Kampala you’ll find any and all vehicle parts and accessories. Art supplies? Head straight to the shops on Nasser Road in Nakasero. For furniture, there are at least ten different suppliers along...
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Blog post
Social norms and firm productivity in Bangladeshi garment factories
Low firm productivity in developing countries presents a key barrier to economic development. Existing economic literature largely focuses on the effects of managers’ and workers’ behaviours on firm productivity (e.g., misallocation of female labour inside the firm). In contrast, we ask why certain behaviours that negatively impact firm productivity arise. We focus on...
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Publication - Policy note
Beyond manufacturing: Reconsidering structural change in Uganda
Uganda, along with other African countries, needs targeted policies to shift employment into more productive activities. “Industries without smokestacks” – tradeable services and agro-industrial activities that have more in common with manufacturing industries than more traditional services and agriculture – offer a new path for structural change in African...
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Publication - Sub-thematic summary
Trade: A summary of IGC research
As rates of globalisation increase in most developing countries, trade openness and foreign market access have become even more important determinants of growth. Trade offers crucial opportunities for increases in productivity and job creation, as well as for igniting sustainable inclusive growth. At the same time, increased integration raises the penalties of inefficient...
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Blog post
The effect of financial literacy on the financial policies of firms
Can education play a role in economic development through improved corporate practices? Several studies conducted with micro and small firms in developing countries point to this direction. But what about large firms? As large firms contribute to a sizeable share of the value created in a country, the potential effect of managers’ education on large firms’ performance...
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Publication - Project Report
Female managers and well-being in the Bangladeshi garment industry
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Blog post
Worker turnover and job flows in the formal private sector of Ethiopia
Creating a sufficient number of stable and well-paying jobs remains a major challenge for African economies. Urban labour markets in the region are marked by high informality and unemployment rates, and most jobs offer minimum job security and typically very low wages. Indeed in Ethiopia, the informal economy is estimated to account for over 38% of GDP with data from the...
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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...