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Showing all content in Zambia
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Blog post
The social cost of electricity price increases in Zambia
The Zambian electricity sector has struggled with frequent power outages since 2016, largely due to declining generation capacity at the main hydropower stations at Kariba. With the worsening drought in recent months, the power deficits have increased, forcing the state power utility ZESCO to announce increased load shedding of up to 15 hours per day in most residential...
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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
Barriers to tax compliance for medium, small, and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in Zambia
This study examines the barriers that contribute to the low levels of tax compliance among MSMEs in Zambia. The brief presents findings from an original survey conducted among 1390 respondents in 52 market hubs in Lusaka and Central province of Zambia. The researcher finds a tax compliance rate of on average 30 percent among these MSMEs. The findings reveal...
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Blog post
Assessing sectoral linkages in the Zambian economy
The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has since 1965, endeavoured to minimise the country’s dependence on copper mining through a melange of policies and incentives in the agricultural, industrial and services sectors in its six previous national development plans. In 2018, GRZ launched its 7th National Development Plan (GRZ, 2017) that re-emphasised the need to...
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Publication - Policy Brief
Assessing inter-sectoral linkages in the Zambian economy: The case of the agro-processing subsector
Although the diversification of the economy has been on the national policy agenda for a long time, Zambia has continued to remain overly dependent on the export of copper for foreign currency earnings and public revenue This study examines the way different sectors in the economy interact to identify policy interventions that can promote the diversification of the...
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Project
The impact of career opportunities on aspirations and educational outcomes
Issues surrounding recruiting and motivating a high-performing public workforce are central to efforts to improve state effectiveness. The research team conducted a national recruitment experiment in Zambia - embedded in the 2012 launch of a new cadre of community health workers (CHW) - the Community Health Assistant (CHA). In contrast to volunteer CHWs, CHAs are government...
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Project
From paper to practice: Implementing civil service reform in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia
This project aims to document and explain the implementation record of performance-oriented civil service reforms in Africa. It will use Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia as case studies. Most recent research on state effectiveness has focused on identifying the causal effects of particular management practices or experimental interventions. However, most large-scale changes to how...
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Project
Relaxing seasonal constraints to improve labour productivity: Scaling-up with a private sector partner (country wide project)
In Zambia, small-scale agriculture employs the vast majority of the rural population, despite low levels of productivity and farming income. Most small-scale farms run out of food and cash four to five months after the harvest. Consequently, farmers engage in costly strategies to finance consumption until the next harvest, most commonly selling family labour off-farm in the...
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Project
The political economy of decentralisation in Zambia
This project will examine the constraints of implementing decentralisation policies in Zambia and enhancing the capacities of local government. Capable, autonomous, and democratic local governments theoretically offer a mechanism for redressing socio-economic inequalities by identifying citizen concerns, allocating resources accordingly, and being held accountable for...
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Project
Review of grant-aided institutions in Zambia
Grant-aided institutions represent a significant cadre of public organisations in Zambia. This project aims to review the modalities used to execute and finance the public functions undertaken by these institutions. It is a response to a request from the Budget Office under the Ministry of Finance to review and assess the cost-effectiveness and appropriateness of the...