Clik here to view.
England’s warrior kings, extractive institutions, and tax policy
When the Plantagenet kings ruled England (1154-1485), their primary means of securing wealth, prestige, and power was through territorial conquest. Fighting endless wars in France and dispatching...
View ArticlePersistent gender gaps and short-term solutions
In 2014, Australian startup founder Evan Thornley gave a talk at a technology startup conference about why he likes to hire women. So far, so good. However, things quickly deteriorated when he...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Measuring inequality isn’t easy or straightforward - Here’s why
This is the third of three blog posts on recent trends in national inequality. In earlier blogposts on recent trends in inequality, we had referred to measurement issues that make this exercise...
View ArticleHow to make services work for the poor?
This question is particularly relevant in the context of traditional public agricultural extension services. Expensive and burdened by high rates of under-staffing and low levels of accountability,...
View ArticleIs predicted data a viable alternative to real data?
The primary motivation for predicting data in economics, health sciences, and other disciplines has been to deal with various forms of missing data problems. However, one could also make a case for...
View ArticleInternational cooperation, ethics and climate change
In pursuing meaningful sustainable development, and investing in conservation and redressing the environmental damage caused by decades of neglect, we need to better explore and understand the role of...
View ArticleTop Incomes, inequality and the Egyptian case
Income inequality has been a hotly debated topic in Egypt since the 2011 revolution. However, researchers remain divided over the “true” level of inequality in this country. A blog posted on Vox in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Strengthening the rules of the game: Bhutan’s alternative procurement experience
When you think of Bhutan, you typically think of the tall mountains of the Himalayas, or you think of this nation adding the ‘Gross National Happiness’, or GNH indicator onto the global development...
View ArticleOf quacks and crooks: The conundrum of informal health care in India
I usually don’t wake up to hate mail in my inbox. What prompted this deluge is a recent paper that evaluates the impact of a training program for informal health care providers (providers without any...
View ArticleIntroducing a cultural trade index
A few years ago, when Craigslist was just “The List,” a friend circulated an ad posted on Craigslist Vancouver. It went like this: We are a small & casual restaurant in downtown Vancouver. We are...
View ArticleCan mobile money increase investment by businesses?
Investment is one of the pillars of private sector development. The acquisition of assets enables firms to increase their capacity and improve their efficiency, unlocking avenues of growth. Promoting...
View ArticleCash for peace? How sharing natural resource revenues can prevent conflicts
Some countries are blessed with natural resources, others are cursed. It’s been said that all the blessed ones are alike, they put the resources to good use, improving the people’s welfare in a...
View ArticleInternational trade and integration: The latest research
What’s the latest research in international trade and integration? Researchers from the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO recently gathered for a one-day workshop to present their latest research on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Financial incentives in health: supply- vs. demand-side. Your help is needed!
A blogpost on financial incentives in health by one of us in September 2015 generated considerable interest. The post raised several issues, one being whether demand-side financial incentives (like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tony Atkinson (1944 – 2017) and the measurement of global poverty
Sir Anthony Atkinson, who was Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics and Fellow of Nuffield College at Oxford, passed away on New Year’s Day, at the age of 72. Tony was a highly...
View ArticleBeing open-minded about universal basic income
In a world riddled with complexity, the simplicity of universal basic income grants (BIGs) is alluring: just give everyone cash. Excerpts of such radical concepts have been put in practice across the...
View ArticleGlobal Economic Prospects: Weak investment in uncertain times
The January 2017 Global Economic Prospects forecasts a subdued recovery in 2017 after the weakest year since the financial crisis. The pickup in growth is expected to come from the receding of...
View ArticleA review of How China Escaped the Poverty Trap by Yuen Yuen Ang
We chose to highlight this book for the World Development Report (WDR) 2017 Seminar Series as its focus on institutional functions rather than forms and on adaptation resonates strongly with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Making growth inclusive: Challenges and opportunities
Many advanced economies are experiencing rising income inequality which has raised questions about the benefits of globalization. Given the growing backlash against perceived job losses associated...
View ArticleInvestment slump clouds growth prospects
Investment growth in emerging market and developing economies has tumbled from 10 percent in 2010 to 3.4 percent in 2015 and was below its long-term average in nearly 70 percent of emerging an...
View Article