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Publication - Policy Brief
The determinants of interest rate spreads in the Uganda banking system: Results from a new analysis of banking system data
There have long been concerns about high-interest rates charged by banks in Uganda and wide spreads between deposit and lending rates. This makes it difficult for firms to borrow for the productive investment that is required to achieve high rates of economic growth. This study investigates the determinants of interest rate spreads in the Uganda banking system, using...
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Project
Knowledge is power: A scoping study on women’s safety
Bihar is ranked 3rd highest in terms of the percentage of women (nearly 43.2%) who experienced physical, sexual or emotional spousal violence (NFHS-4, 2017). Moreover, evidence suggests that the actual, as well as the perceived threat of women being attacked outside the home often deter them from working outside (Sudarshan, 2009; Chakraborty et. al, 2018). These alarming...
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Project
Addressing financial inclusion in rural India: the role of information and peer pressure
Financial inclusion is considered to be an important aspect of the promotion of economic growth. Despite a significant increase in formal financial account ownership in recent years, a vast majority of adults in developing countries, and in particular women, still do not use them regularly. The aim of this project is to understand the factors that influence the usage of...
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Project
She Wins- Electing women in ethnically divided societies: The case of Bihar
Prior research on gender and politics in India focuses on efforts to increase the number of women holding office. Few researchers, however, have addressed why, in ethnically diverse democracies like India, some women candidates are successful while others are not. Existing research does little to differentiate women candidates by constituency characteristics, much less by...
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Blog post
Balance for better: Advancing women’s political leadership
“What we need is men and women in equal numbers, working as equals.” This statement by Clare Short, former Secretary of State for the International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID) struck me for its revelatory simplicity. When more women work, economies prosper, productivity increases, and businesses benefit from organisational effectiveness and growth. If...
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Blog post
What’s the marginal productivity of a nurse?
Imagine you are running a national health system in a country in Africa. You run thousands of health facilities and employ tens of thousands of nurses, doctors, midwives, and other health workers. Where should you deploy these personnel to have the greatest impact on public health? Suppose there is a rural health clinic that employs two nurses. What would improve service...
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Blog post
Do civil service performance incentives work: Evidence from Ghana and Zambia
“The problem with government is that bureaucrats don’t have any incentive to perform well.” If you’ve spent much time working in or with governments in low- or middle-income countries, you’ve almost certainly heard this lament many times – and maybe even said it yourself. The idea is simple, intuitive, and powerful: People aren’t performing well; people...
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Publication - Working Paper
Civil service reform and performance management in Ghana and Zambia since 1990
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Publication - Synthesis paper
Monetary policy in Tanzania: Looking back on 10-years of BoT and IGC contributions
This paper synthesises the International Growth Centre’s work on monetary policy in Tanzania during its 10 years of involvement in the region, placing it in the context of the wider literature on the topic. It begins with an overview of the primary debates around the theory and practice of monetary policy in sub-Saharan Africa since independence, including recent efforts...