The Institutional Diagnostic Project case study on Bangladesh and Mozambique is an attempt to explain the paradox of sustainability of the former and the disappointed hopes of the growth of the latter.

This presentation reviews and summaries results from research done under RA4 research theme of our programme.

This is a presentation from EDI Seminar- it outlines the review of RA3 research done under our programme and additional takeaways.

Outline of the presentation Objective, methodology and development of the project The synthesis volume and concluding chapters a) Identifying obstacles to development: economic perspective b) Identifying institutional obstacles: the role of politics c) Identifying institutional obstacles: state capacity and property…

Two central lessons can be drawn from the foregoing analysis. First, many institutional failures are traceable to the way politics functions. Therefore, any diagnosis or understanding of the impediments to a country’s long-term development that overlooks the country’s political economy…

After having examined the role of politics (in last chapter) in spurring or slowing down structural transformation and development, we are now ready to probe the issue of state capacity. This will complete our discussion of the role of governance-related…

In this chapter, the focus is on issues that involve politics. More specifically, we look at the role of political leadership and state autonomy in development. The institutions involved determine the quality of governance in a country, but they are…

Whether in the four case study countries or in the successful development stories of South Korea and Taiwan at the time when they were at a comparable level of income per capita, the issue of development consists of providing the…

This last part of the volume puts together the lessons learned from the in-depth case studies undertaken within the Institutional Diagnostic Programme (IDP), and the more cursory analysis of the success development stories of South Korea and Taiwan at about…

There are several reasons why development scholars should be interested in the case of Taiwan. As one author has written: ‘It once had a single dominant party following the Leninist model; it now has a competitive multiparty system. It was…

‘What would have been the conclusion of an institutional diagnostic of the development potential of South Korea conducted in the mid- or late-1970s, at a time when the country was still a low-income country, at roughly the same income level…

There are several reasons why Benin is an interesting country to study, and some of them have no doubt contributed to making it an aid darling for many donors. First, although it is made up of an extraordinarily varied mosaic…

At the core of the institutional diagnostic project is the idea that we can gain more knowledge about the role of institutions by undertaking in-depth country case studies than by carrying out broad quantitative exercises based on a large sample…

The preceding chapter defined the objective of the institutional diagnostics of each particular country and made explicit the concepts and analytical principles that need to be mobilised in order to conduct such an exercise. By providing a short description of…

The ‘institutions matter’ slogan appears today as a fundamental truth about development. Widely shared by the development community, including international organisations, it goes with the idea that the benefits of both market operations and state interventions are significantly conditioned by…

If there is absolutely no doubt that institutions matter for development, and for development policies and strategies in the first place, the crucial issue is knowing how they matter. After all, impressive economic development achievements have been observed despite the…

Authoritarian regimes often direct the course of electoral politics in ways that allow them to concentrate and consolidate power (Geddes, 1999; Svolik, 2012; Gandhi and Przeworski, 2007; Gandhi, 2015). While a growing body of literature has devoted attention to studying…

Following decades of colonialism and a violent political history, Uganda has reached a state of relative stability and economic growth.  The Ugandan decentralization reform initiated in 1992 is exceptional among developing countries in terms of the scale and scope of…

We place the research on the private sector supported by the Economic Development and Institutions (EDI) Programme into the context of the broader literature. The review illuminates the contribution of the EDI research in two areas that are at the…

In developing countries with strongly patriarchal norms, the socio-economic opportunities and choices of adolescent girls and young women often lie in a contested area, subject to the influence of both traditional institutions and the modern state and its partners. While…

Markets in low-income countries often display long tails of inefficient firms and signicant misallocation. This paper studies Rwandan coffee mills, an industry initially characterized by widespread inefficiencies that has recently seen a process of consolidation in which exporters have acquired…

Since 1993, Nepal implemented one of the most ambitious and comprehensive program of decentralization of forest management in the world, widely considered as a success story in terms of participatory management of natural resources. Using quasi-experimental methods, we first quantify…

Authoritarian regimes often direct the course of electoral politics in ways that allow them to concentrate and consolidate power. This observation applies well to Pakistan and its three military regimes: Ayub, Zia, and Musharraf. The political reforms enacted by General…

We develop an approach to understand the role of autocratic land reforms to prevent democratic change. The autocrat confiscates and redistributes land in an attempt to secure his power, exploiting the endogenous social identities and loyalty in the population. The…

Political selection can be crucial to the quality of governance. Yet our general knowledge of the individual characteristics that determine who becomes a politician remains scant – primarily due to data limitations. Dal Bo and Finan (2018) emphasize how the…

Baland and Guirkinger summarise the case studies research undertaken on the theme of family, gender and conflict. They conclude that several examples of traditional institutions, such as patriarchy or clan, caste or ethnic groups, are remarkably resilient. They argue that…

This synthesis paper draws together the salient elements emerging from the RA4 case studies research, and from three thematic synthesis papers written by members of the RA4 Scientific Committee, Jean Marie Baland and Catherine Guirkinger, Dilip Mookherjee, and Christopher Woodruff….

This paper serves as a companion paper to the Economic Development and Institutions’ (EDI) White Paper “At the Intersection: A Review of Institutions in Economic Development” (Dal Bó and Finan, 2016). The White Paper reviewed nearly 200 publications from economics…

The state, bureaucracy, and judiciary synthesis paper finds that the research conducted under this theme makes an important contribution to the literature discussing the issue that formal institutions cannot be created at will, and that they require a suitable cultural…

Islamic countries have increasingly been exposed to western culture, through the liberalization of their media markets and rise of transnational media networks. What is the consequence of this exposure on cultural and religious behavior, given potential clashes between western norms…

This report summarizes an ongoing study of the effect of teacher rotation on student outcomes in Uganda. In the status quo, teachers are transferred (“rotated”) across schools at the discretion of district authorities. In randomized treatment schools, we incentivize teachers…

We document the following dissimilarity between patterns of selection into entrepreneurship and into exporting among Chinese entrepreneurs. Birth counties with higher population density (PD) exhibited higher levels and growth of entrepreneurship, but a lower fraction of active entrepreneurs were engaged…

Over the past three decades, state control of media in Muslim countries has eroded rapidly, through the rise of multinational television networks such as Al Jazeera, the spread of radio services such as BBC World Service and Voice of America,…

Land reform in Zimbabwe is a dramatic example of how the issue of agricultural land distribution governs a country’s political and economic development over several decades. Zimbabwe first experienced 20 years of moderate redistribution that eventually moved to a phase…

Ugandan policy mandates periodic re-assignment of teachers between schools. We study whether rewarding high-performing teachers with posting to a preferred school improves teacher attendance, effort, and student performance. We find no effect on student and teacher outcomes. Results suggest that…

It is widely accepted that there are persistent performance differences (PPDs) among seemingly similar enterprises (Syverson, 2011). These differences are not only documented in developed markets (Syverson, 2004) but also in developing countries where they tend to be more pronounced…

This paper provides micro evidence for one mechanism behind the dramatically different political responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, namely how an increase in the perceived risk of Covid-19 among individuals stemming from past exposure to similar health crises generates citizen demand for containment measures.

Over the past 25 years, the government of Nepal implemented one of the most ambitious and comprehensive programs of decentralization of forest management in the world. This major institutional change resulted in the transfer of the management of almost 50%…

In this paper, we investigate how media owners react to changes in the political importance of vote choices — voting power — in different areas. Whereas “one person, one vote” is often considered the guiding principle of democracies, there is…

Developing economies are characterized by limited compliance with government regulation, such as taxation. Resources for enforcement are scarce, but the increasing availability of digitized data and data processing technologies have the potential to improve the targeting of enforcement. Levering an…

We study judicial in-group bias in Indian criminal courts, collecting data on over 5 million criminal case records from 2010–2018. We exploit quasi-random assignment of cases to judges to examine whether defendant outcomes are affected by assignment to a judge…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) – adaptive computer programs that can perform functions typically associated with the human mind – offer new opportunities for improving the productivity of large-scale organizations. Recent advances in data collection, systems of aggregation,…

MOZAMBIQUE INSTITUTIONAL DIAGNOSTIC Chapter 9: The saga and limits of public financial management: The Mozambican case Abstract: At independence in 1975, the Frelimo government took over public administration from the colonial system and started to transform it. The public financial…

MOZAMBIQUE INSTITUTIONAL DIAGNOSTIC Chapter 4. The relative neglect of agriculture in Mozambique Abstract: This paper explores agricultural performance of Mozambique, its institutional weaknesses, and the underlying factors that underpin an unsatisfactory performance during many decades. We point to the role…

In a field experiment spanning the entirety of two Indian states, we randomized bureaucrats’ access to a mobile phone based e-management platform for India’s flagship workfare program. We randomized which levels of the administrative hierarchy received access to the app,…

While political dynasties are pervasive across developing countries we have limited knowledge of their impact on economic development. We probe this in a context where electoral politics is both competitive and clientelist. Leveraging novel databases on political genealogies and local…

In this paper, we estimate the impact of dynastic families on local development in Pakistan’s largest province, Punjab. Toward this purpose,we compile an original database on political genealogies, which includes information aboutthe personal and family characteristics of both elected representatives…

We examine how trust shapes compliance with public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda. We use an endorsement experiment embedded in a mobile phone survey to show that messages from government officials generate more support for public health…

The EDI research programme has generated significant policy impacts, including changes to laws and national policies as a result of close engagement between researchers and government officials. This report by the Centre for Effective Global Action (CEGA) details the impact of our work throughout the globe.

Throughout history, Rulers have always faced challenges to their rule. These challenges came either from outside aggressors, popular uprisings or Elite conspiracies. The ability of Rulers to respond to these challenges has varied a lot across countries and across time….

Studies examining expenditure policies of local governments (panchayats) in India have found evidence of failure to target benefits to poor regions or households. This mis-targeting can be either in the form of diversion to local elites, or forms of political…

Past research has provided evidence of clientelistic politics in delivery of program benefits by local governments (gram panchayats (GPs)), and manipulation of GP pro- gram budgets by legislators and elected officials at upper tiers in West Bengal, India. Using household…

The professional business services market of providers offering accounting, marketing, human resources, consulting, and legal services to other businesses is estimated to exceed US$5 trillion in annual revenue. However, few small firms in developing countries use these services. A recent…

Why do more small firms in developing countries not use the market for professional business services like accounting, marketing, and human resource specialists? Two key reasons may be that firms lack information about the availability of these services, and that…

Information barriers can prohibit trade. This paper empirically documents the existence of business-to-business information sharing between small firm traders in Lagos, Nigeria. Sharing information about availability of new products and styles is more common than sharing information about actual suppliers…

Abstract: Historical narratives suggest that general differences exist in the power structure of society between Imperial China and Premodern Europe: the Ruler enjoyed a weaker absolute power in Europe, while in China the People were more on par with the…

Abstract: Bihar is widely regarded as one of India’s poorest and most divided states. It has also been the site of many social movements that have left indelible marks on the state’s politics and identity. Little is currently known about…

Abstract: What are the determinants of news media consumption? In this paper, we investigate whether it is determined by political motives. We build a new panel dataset on Indian publications at the city level between 2002 and 2017. We exploit…

Abstract: This document is the second of two progress reports that provide an overview of the progress made on the DFID RA4 project “Social structures, political accountability, and effective public goods provision.” Our study is interested in better understanding how…

Abstract: This paper reports on a two-tiered experiment designed to separately identify the selection and effort margins of pay-for-performance (P4P). At the recruitment stage, teacher labor markets were randomly assigned to a pay-for-percentile or fixed-wage contract. Once recruits were placed,…

Abstract: International donors and governments require contracting mechanisms that provide accountability in order to mitigate leakage and corruption in public infrastructure projects, especially when construction is outsourced to private sector contractors. This is an important goal because low-income countries spend…

One puzzling question that arises in connection with the spread of the virus SARS-CoV2 is why there are so large variations in its incidence (the infection rate) and its lethal consequences (the death-toll) across countries and across regions within countries….

Abstract: Gangs govern millions worldwide. Why rule, and how do they respond to states? Many argue that criminal rule provides protection when states do not, and that increasing state services could crowd gangs out. We began by interviewing leaders from…

Abstract: We investigate the historical origins of female genital cutting (FGC), a harmful practice widespread across Africa. We test the hypothesis -substantiated by historical sources – that FGC was connected to the Red Sea slave trade route, where women were…

Abstract: We study the role of traditional institutions of tribes and clans – large groups of people sharing an identity based on common lineage – in determining long-run differences in economic trajectories at sub-national level. Using a combination of rich…

In early September, 2020, ten days before the deadline for revisions to this volume, Colombians participated in the biggest anti-police protests in decades. Like the protests that swept the United States just months earlier, they were sparked by the heinous…

Abstract: Property taxes are in theory easy to enforce in their simplest form due to their tangible tax base, and are considered an equitable means to raise revenue in low-income countries. In spite of these features, African countries, where cities…

Abstract: We study the long-run persistence of relative economic well-being in the face of highly adverse government policies using a combination of rich historical and contemporaneous data sources from Kyrgyzstan. Even after controlling for unobservable local effects, the economic well-being…

The practice of child marriage is ubiquitous in developing countries, where one in three girls is married before the age of 18. Although most developing countries have a legal minimum age of marriage, in practice marriage age is determined by…

Reducing crime and improving personal and communal security are crucial policy goals. The task of achieving these goals naturally falls first and foremost on a country’s police force.There is a widespread consensus that police forces are most effective in preventing…

Experimental evidence from Ghana’s civil service Abstract: Organizational culture is an important driver of organizational performance, but evidence on how to improve performance-oriented organizational cultures is scarce – especially in the public sector. We partnered with Ghana’s Civil Service to…

Abstract: In this study, we exploit a natural experiment to investigate the size and nature of the gender asset gap in Pakistan. In 2010, there was a massive flood, which affected nearly a fifth of the country, and caused a…

In this paper, we study a large scale effort to improve the information environment in a key area of legal rights: women’s rights in marriage. The degree of freedom that women enjoy over key life choices such as whether, when…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 13: Synthesis and policy recommendations We now proceed to bringing together the different elements of previous chapters with the aim of presenting the essence of this country study of Mozambique. In the next section, we take…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 12: Natural resources, institutions, and economic transformation in Mozambique Abstract: In the light of Mozambique’s natural resources boom—especially its large-scale investments in mining, oil, and gas—this paper analyses the prospects for the extractive industries to contribute…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 11: Donor relations and sovereignty Abstract: As a sovereign country, Mozambique initially relied on international solidarity and managed its donor relations well. Donor dependency entailed some loss of agency for the government as it allowed donors…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 10: Rule of law and judicial independence Abstract: The rule of law and judicial independence are a project yet to be achieved in Mozambique. The different attempts made so far to reform the legal system, mainly…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 8: Decentralization reforms in Mozambique The role of institutions in the definition of results Abstract: With the introduction of the economic reforms in the late 1980s, the opening up of the political arena and the end…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 7: Health, development, and institutional factors The Mozambique case Abstract: The central aim of this text is to show the impact institutions have on the performance of the health sector in Mozambique. The text shows that…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 6: The education sector in Mozambique From access to epistemic quality in primary education Abstract: From the early days of national independence in 1975, the central aim of the educational policy in Mozambique has been to…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 3: Institutional Performance International datasets, quantitative survey and key informants Having taken stock of the development performance of Mozambique in a historical and socioeconomic perspective in Chapter 2, we introduce in Section 2 of this chapter…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 2. Historical, political and economic background Few countries have experienced as many extreme political and economic changes as Mozambique both before and after independence in 1975. ‘The combined legacies of colonialism, idealism, socialism, war fueled by…

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 1: Introduction and overview Authors: Ines A. Ferreira and Finn Tarp

Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic Foreword and Acknowledgements Authors: António S. Cruz, Ines A. Ferreira, Johnny Flentø and, Finn Tarp

The current unraveling COVID-19 pandemic poses severe challenges not only in the realm of health, but also for economic and social systems around the globe. It can exacerbate longstanding inequities between groups and leave marginalized groups in a vulnerable position;…

This paper examines resilience of Chinese firms to the Covid-19 shock, and how it varied with a cluster index (measuring spatial agglomeration of firms in related industries) at the county level. Two data sources are used: entry flows of newly…

The ability to recruit, elicit effort from, and retain civil servants is a central issue for any government. Poor performance of frontline civil servants (e.g., teachers, health workers, tax collectors) suggests that governments need to find and deploy more effective…

Developing, maintaining, and using tax records to boost revenue. Tax revenue funds the provision of public goods, but poor countries struggle to raise taxes. In fact, as shown in the figure above, low income countries (LICs) raise only half as much tax…

In many countries the Covid-19 virus spread from the roving rich to the stationary poor. In South Africa, for instance, the virus seems to have been imported from abroad by travelers from the upper class and was then transferred to…

In developing countries with strongly patriarchal norms, the socio-economic opportunities and choices of adolescent girls and young women often lie in a contested area, subject to the influence of both traditional institutions and the modern state and its partners. While…

For decades, women in India have been largely absent from public life and substantially under-represented in political institutions. As a country founded on the ideals of localized democracy, this has meant that the voices of roughly half of the population…

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, scholars and journalists have spread anecdotes of gangs and criminal organizations coming to the aid of citizens, governing in place of the state. They report gang activities that range from enforcing lockdowns to providing goods and…

Abstract: Most enlightenment philosophers argued that the separation between Church and State would prevent capture of resources by one state religion. We formalize and test a theory that addresses a different danger. We demonstrate that a reduction in the separation…

An Institutional Diagnostic of Bangladesh: Introduction Chapter overview: Why an institutional diagnostic? Methodological approach to the Bangladesh institutional diagnostic and the organisation of this volume A brief overview of Bangladesh’s political history The difficult installation of democracy The era of…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 11: The Synthesis Chapter overview: Introduction Identifying institutional constraints in Bangladesh’s development A sketch of Bangladesh’s political history Successes and challenges of Bangladesh’s economic development Bangladesh’s institutional performance in global rankings Bangladesh’s institutional performance based on…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 9: Institutional challenges in land administration and management in Bangladesh Chapter Overview List of tables and figures Glossary Introduction Consequences of land scarcity and inefficient land management Overview of the land laws and policies in Bangladesh…

The vital importance of institutions for economic development is widely acknowledged in both the theoretical and empirical literature. Yet the precise nature of the relationship between the two is unclear: do ‘good’ institutions produce development, or does development lead to…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 4: The country institutional survey – experts’ opinions on institutions in Bangladesh Chapter Overview List of tables and figures Introduction The CIS in Bangladesh The survey: design of the questionnaire Execution of the survey Critical institutional…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 8: Institutional challenges in public spending: the case of primary education Chapter overview: List of figures Introduction The importance of education (primary education) for development in Bangladesh The primary education sector in Bangladesh: basic performance Challenges…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 10: Political economy analysis of the role of the judiciary in land dispossession litigation in Bangladesh Chapter Overview Table of contents List of tables and figures List of abbreviations Glossary Introduction The effectiveness of the judiciary…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 7: Institutional dimensions of tax reforms in Bangladesh Chapter Overview List of tables and figures Development context The public resource mobilisation challenge Main objectives, methodology, and approach of the chapter Tax mobilisation issues in developing countries:…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 6: Political economy of private bank governance in Bangladesh Chapter Overview List of tables, figures, and boxes Introduction Review of literature on the banking sector of Bangladesh Banking sector in Bangladesh: Performance and challenges Structure of…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 5: Informal institutions, the RMG sector, and the present challenge of export diversification in Bangladesh Chapter Overview List of tables, figures, and boxes Introduction Review of the literature on export diversification Overview of the RMG and…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 3: A cross-country comparative analysis of institutional indicators: Where does Bangladesh stand? Chapter Overview List of tables and figures Introduction Constructing synthetic institutional indices Bangladesh’s position in the global ranking of synthetic institutional indices How does…

Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 2: Bangladesh’s Development: Achievements and Challenges Chapter Overview: List of tables and figures Introduction Sources of growth and possible limitations of the present development regime  Aggregate growth Structural transformation Remittances and foreign direct investment Infrastructure Bangladesh…

Empirical Evidence from the Community Health Worker Program in Sierra Leone Authors:  Erika Deserranno, Northwestern University, and Philipp Kastrau and Gianmarco León-Ciliotta, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Introduction:  Poor performance of frontline service providers (e.g., teachers, health workers, tax collectors) has generated…

On 1 May 2019, Mexico passed a new labour law. This was seen by many as the most substantial labour law reform in Mexico in a century. In the lead up to the law reform, EDI-funded research led by Assistant…

Experimental Evidence from an Information Intervention in Bangladesh. As part of an EDI case study on early marriage in Bangladesh, we conducted a randomised information intervention in 80 villages following a recent change in child marriage law in the country….

In this research, we ask whether kinship networks help promote entrepreneurship or impede its development in the Kyrgyz Republic. We conducted a survey of firm managers/entrepreneurs about the nature of their business networks, what kinds of business and non-business resources…

The use of kinship networks by small business owners in the Kyrgyz Republic has both positive and negative effects on their companies’ profitability and revenue growth. In order to leverage these networks, technical advice to entrepreneurs should encourage discretion in…

Value-added tax systems across the world are afflicted with size-dependent regulations.The benefit of such regulations to the tax authority is unclear. In this paper, we use an administrative dataset from the state of Delhi in India to first show that…

This paper investigates how women’s promotions in the workplace affect bargaining in the household. I exploit the design of a promotion programme for women in 27 Bangladeshi garment factories, by comparing women who were quasi-randomly selected for the programme to…

This paper presents the introduction from the Handbook of Economic Development and Institutions published by Princeton University Press in January 2020. The book can be purchased online from Princeton University Press. Authors: Jean-Marie Baland, Francois Bourguignon, Jean-Philippe Platteau, and Thierry…

Abstract: Are ordinary citizens or political party leaders better positioned to select candidates?  While the American primary system lets citizens choose, most democracies rely instead on party officials to appoint or nominate candidates.  The consequences of these distinct design choices…

The Judiciary, through providing protection of property rights, constraining government abuse, and enforcing contracts, plays a key role in institutional, political, and economic development. Religion, too, has largely influenced institutions, politics, and economic development. Yet not much is understood on…

This research elucidates the willingness of an autocrat to push through institutional reforms in a context where traditional authorities represented by religious clerics are averse to them and where the military control the means of repression and can potentially make…

The literature shows that women do not have an equal share in wealth as men, even within the same household, where large inequalities exist in ownership of land and productive assets. Women’s increased control of resources has been shown to…

We test the hypothesis that the slave trade was one of the contributing factors for the spread of female genital cutting (FGC). In the Red-Sea route female slaves were sold as concubines and infibulation was used to ensure chastity. We…

Authors: François Bourguignon, Paris School of Economics, and Samuel Wangwe, Economic and Social Research Foundation

Countries where courts are weak, and rights are poorly enforced, tend to be countries with worse economic outcomes (Pande and Udry, 2006; Rodrik, 2000, 2005). To better understand the relationship between the functioning of judicial systems and economic growth, Dal…

Abstract: We report the results of a field experiment designed to promote women to supervisory positions in Bangladesh’s garment factories, with which participating factories have little prior experience. We show that formal diagnostic tests lead factories to choose candidates that…

Abstract: Does informing plaintiffs about expected case outcomes lead them to hire better quality lawyers? We conduct a randomized field experiment with the Mexico City Labor Court to provide statistical predictions and meetings with court conciliators to potential plaintiffs. Almost…

Abstract: This paper reviews the literature on aspirations in economics, with a particular focus on socially determined aspirations. The core theory builds on two fundamental principles: (a) aspirations can serve to inspire, but still higher aspirations can lead to frustration…

Abstract: This paper studies the land property rights of married women using a diagnostic survey on women’s land property rights and Village Councils in rural Tanzania (VI-LART). Women own little property independently of their husbands. This puts them at particular…

Sylvie Lambert (Paris School of Economics), Garance Genicot (Georgetown University), and Markus Goldstein (World Bank) discuss the significance of ensuring land rights to economic activity in the agricultural sectory in the Congo Basin, how securing land rights for women is…

Economic Development & Institutions programme is developing a diagnostic framework that will help identify the institutional challenges a country faces in boosting development and economic outcomes, and as such highlights where efforts should be spent to enhance development activities. Francois…

Despite the prevalence of “criminal governance” in cities around the world, there is very little information available to policymakers about effective strategies to reduce the influence of urban armed groups. Santiago Tobon, (Innovations for Poverty Action and Universidad EAFIT, Columbia),…

How can artificial intelligence help understand the decisions of judges to improve the quality of judiciary systems? Francois Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics, Research Director EDI) and Bilal Siddiqi (University of California, Berkeley) explain how randomised control trials can be…

Judicial independence from state bureaucracies is considered critical for the stability of institutions and for ensuring the rule of law. As such, judicial independence is crucially important for understanding the development process. In this video Dr Sultan Mehmood (University of…

Zaki Wahhaj (Member, Advisory Group – Family Gender Conflict), Francois Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics, Research Director EDI), and Kate Vyborny (Duke University) discuss the unintended effects of new laws on the legal age of marriage in rural Bangladesh, and…

The design of development policies requires a precise understanding of the informal institutions regulating economic activities. A key – yet understudied – institution in many low- and middle-income countries is the clan. Catherine Guirkinger (University of Namur) discusses the economic…

More than a billion people currently live without access to electricity in their homes. As policymakers push for increased electricity access, Susanna Berkouwer (University of California, Berkley) examines the work EDI is doing to answer the key question: how can…

This paper elucidates the willingness of an autocrat to push through institutional reforms in a context where traditional authorities represented by religious clerics are averse to them and where the military, who have their own preferences about reforms, control the…

The Economic Development & Institutions (EDI) research programme aims to provide evidence and insights into what practical actions can be undertaken to produce institutional changes that will improve a country’s economic development and growth. The importance of a country’s institutions…

Between 3 and 4 June 2019, the Economic Development & Institutions programme hosted its annual general conference. The event, held in Paris, brought together nearly 50 EDI researchers, members of the scientific committees, independent advisory committee and programme management staff….

Professor Christopher Woodruff from the Oxford University explains how EDI research into the constraints of labour courts in Mexico City helped to improve the effectiveness of the judiciary system, and influence the biggest labour law reform in Mexico in a…

Abstract: Research on innovation in government often focuses on ideas introduced by senior leaders or managers, but ideas from public servants themselves are an important and underexplored channel for improving performance in government bureaucracies. We provide new evidence on the…

Abstract: This paper investigates how social norms related to land conversion may evolve to accommodate greater scarcity, by taking advantage of data collected in the Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as historical events that introduced…

This EDI Research Insight publishes early stage results from a study designed to explore questions about  representation, accountability and performance among government officials in Sierra Leone. As in many developing countries, in Sierra Leone the process of selecting candidates often…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. Based on the descriptive analysis of the economic, social, and political context in the first part of this volume, and the various thematic studies in the second part, this final chapter…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. Summary of contents: 1 Introduction 2 Historical economic relations between Benin and Nigeria 3 Causes of informal trade: Nigeria’s pervasive distortions incentivise smuggling 4 Magnitude of entrepôt trade between Benin and…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. This chapter deals with the issue of land tenure, which has been identified by the research coordinators as one of the major institutional problems in Benin. It deals more specifically with…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. Abstract: Using a database providing information on tax revenue over the period 1980–2015, covering 42 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, we analyse the efforts by Benin to raise tax revenue, in regard…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. Contents: 1 Introduction 2 Analytical framework 2.1 Organisation of the cotton sector 2.2 External factors 2.3 Domestic factors 3 Historical background of cotton in Benin: 1641-1960 3.1 Pre-colonial period to 1949:…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. This chapter uses a novel database on contractual arrangements between politicians, political brokers, and businessmen in Benin to investigate the way the nature of these arrangements depends on the level of…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. This chapter aims to identify the institutional areas that most constrain Benin’s economic development, relying on expert opinion as it appears in databases that provide international comparisons of institutional and related…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. This chapter is the second part of the overview of institutional and other constraints on the development of Benin. While the first chapter focused on the geographical, historical, social, and political…

This publication is part of the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. This chapter, Chapter 1, constitutes the first part of a two-step overview of institutional and other constraints on the development of Benin. It looks at the context in which Benin’s development…

François Bourguignon provides a brief introduction to the five thematic studies undertaken for the Benin Institutional Diagnostic.

This introductory chapter the the Benin Institutional Diagnostic provides a contextual overview to the publication under five main topics: ‘Institutions matter’ How institutions matter in development policy today Searching for evidence on the quality of institutions and development Institutional diagnostic…

How effectively are government bureaucracies managed? How much variation is there in management practices across organizations? These are basic questions about the day-to-day bureaucratic processes of governance on which little systematic evidence exists, especially in low- and middle-income countries. And…

Laura Torvinen offered insights in response to the question, “What are the institutional bottlenecks to development?” in a panel discussion for the Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic (MID) launch workshop on 12 June in Maputo. (This presentation is in Portuguese.) The Launch…

Magid Osman and Jorge Ferrão offered insights on the question, “What are the institutional bottlenecks to development?” in a panel discussion for the Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic (MID) launch workshop on 12 June in Maputo. (This presentation is in Portuguese.) The…

Finn Tarp provided background information and data in a session at the workshop to launch the Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic (MID) study on 12 June in Maputo. (This presentation is in Portuguese.) The Launch Workshop brought together key people from policymakers…

François Bourguignon provided an introduction and overview in a workshop to launch the Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic (MID) study on 12 June in Maputo. The Launch Workshop brought together key people from policymakers to representatives of the private sector, civil society,…

The Mozambique Institutional Diagnostic (MID) study officially started in February 2019 under a contract with the Development Economics Research Group (DERG) of the University of Copenhagen, in coordination with activities supported by DERG and UNU-WIDER in Mozambique. The methodology for…

Abstract: The negative welfare consequences of child marriage are well established, but the phenomenon is still ubiquitous in developing countries, where one in three girls is married before the age of 18. Although most countries have a legal minimum age of marriage…

The Bangladesh Institutional Diagnostic was officially started in September 2018. It is led by Selim Raihan, the Executive Director of the South Asian Network for Economic Modelling (SANEM), together with François Bourguignon, Research Director of the Economic Development and Institutions…

Land ownership and inheritance rights play a critical role for gender equity, and the land-poverty nexus has drawn considerable attention both in academia and policy circles. This EDI Research Insight highlights key findings from research designed to build an understanding…

Urban armed groups, especially criminal gangs, are a growing threat to peace and economic growth in cities across the world, and often exert state-like powers such as enforcing contracts, policing, and taxing businesses. Gangs, mafias, and urban militias have turned…

This EDI Research Insight provides a summary of our initial findings from an EDI case study in Bangladesh, which was designed to test the hypothesis that formal laws can influence informal social norms and practices related to child marriage. To…

Inequality in access to land is often considered symptomatic of larger inequalities of opportunities in rural societies. Yet little is known about land access inequality in frontier settings where property rights have not fully transitioned from open access through communal…

There is a fast-growing literature on socially determined aspirations, and the implications of this concept for the study of goal-setting, interpersonal inequality, economic mobility, risk-taking, fertility decisions and social conflict. This EDI Research Insight briefly outlines the major themes emerging…

This EDI Policy Brief provides an accessible summary of key insights and findings from research for a case study on “Discretion versus rule-based budgeting and assignment in Indian governments“. Clientelism and vote buying are commonly mentioned symptoms of poor governance in…

This EDI Working Paper arises from the research undertaken for a case study on “Discretion versus rule-based budgeting and assignment in Indian governments“. The study shows how political support of household heads respond to receipt of different private and public good…

This EDI Policy Brief provides an accessible summary of key insights and findings that are presented in the EDI Working Paper on “Community Origins of Industrial Entrepreneurship in Pre-Independence India.” It derives from a case study on the role community networks in…

This EDI Working Paper derives from research undertaken in the Case Study on ‘Community networks and industrial entrepreneurship in India and China’ by Dilip Mookherjee et al. The authors argue that community networks played an important role in the emergence of…

Benin Institutional Diagnostic This publication is the first draft of an introductory chapter for the Benin Institutional Diagnostic. To see the final versions of all publications arising from this study, visit our Benin Institutional Diagnostic overview. Chapter 1: A first…

Federico Finan, Associate Professor of Economics and Business at UC-Berkeley, introduces the EDI convening conference titled, “Sharing Strategies, Sharing Solutions: A Policy Institute for Innovations in Public Services.” The main goals of the event are to identify ways in which…

Charity Moore from the Harvard Kennedy School presents research from a project on “USing digital trails to improve management and accountability for public service delivery in India.” Service delivery in development settings in hierarchical in nature, which can lead to…

Kate Casey of Stanford University presents research to date from the project on “Politician entry, selection and performance in Sierra Leone.” How do political parties choose candidates who run in the general elections Political party have regional geographic strongholds, which…

Andrew Zeitlin from Georgetown University presents his research on the compositional consequences of performance pay in the education sector in Rwanda. H notes that in developing country education there is tremendous variation in teacher quality and internationally, these differences have…

Gianmarco León on pay-for-performance (P4P), which has been shown to be effective in job performance in both private and public organizations. The research examines how incentives affect performance when they are implemented across multiple layers of an organization – from…

Edward Miguel of the University of California at Berkeley presents research on “The political economy and governance of rural electrification in Kenya.” In the last few years it has become a major policy and foreign aid priority to enhance the…

Michael O’ Sullivan from the World Bank presents research on “Relaxing credit constraints and tenure insecurity in imperfect markets.” The project motivation arises from recognition that in the absence of well-functioning markets for land, credit and insurance, farming households are…

Kate Vyborny presents her research on a project that explores how women in Pakistan can get access to the rights that they legally have. She looks particularly at the legal rights that are understood and established around marriage contracts. This…

Eric Arias from William & Mary College presents research from his field experiment in Colombia on community policing and public trust. Arias begins with the motivation for this research, which is centred on the premise that citizens’ trust and cooperation…

Virginia Nelder, from the Kenya Law Reform Commission, presents her research on “Access to justice in Kenya’s magistrates’ courts: Judicial systems as public goods.” The project she presents aims to provide the research necessary to make evidence-based policy and legislative…

Bilal Siddiqi from the World Bank presents his research on “Using administrative data systems to improve court efficiency (India, Kenya, Tanzania)”. Questions reviewed through this research include: How do disputes get reported? How is the quality of adjudication affected by…

Joyce Sadka from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) presents her research on “Improving the Effectiveness of Labor Courts through Information and Conciliation” undertaken together with the courts in Mexico City. Sadka asks can informing plaintiffs and defendants about…

Shekhar Mittal, of the University of California at Berkeley, presents his research on the Value Added Tax (VAT) system in India. A key development concern is how to improve tax collections, which are central to building state capacity. Mittal examines…

Justine Knebelmann from the Paris School of Economics presents her research on a project undertaken in collaboration with the Senegalese tax administration. She reviews the motivations for research on the property tax regime, and examines how technological improvements in the…

Pierre Bachas from the World Bank presents on his EDI-funded research in Senegal on how to audit populations when there is limited government capacity. This presentation was part of a larger convening workshop for EDI, “Sharing Solutions, Sharing Strategies: A…

Ernesto Dal Bó, Professor in Management Philosophy and Values at UC Berkeley, and Benjamin Klooss, EDI Programme Manager at Oxford Policy Management, reflect on the EDI conference “Sharing Strategies, Sharing Solutions: A Policy Institute for Innovations in Public Services.” They…

This EDI Policy Brief provides an accessible summary of key insights and findings that are presented in the EDI Working Paper on “Community networks and the growth of private enterprise in China.” It derives from a case study on the…

This paper identifies and quantifies the role played by birth-county-based community networks in the growth of private enterprise in China. We develop a network-based model that generates predictions for the dynamics of firm entry, concentration, and firm size across birth counties with varying…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 8: Synthesis This chapter provides a synthesis of information and arguments developed in the first seven chapters of the Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic. Chapter outline Part 1.  The basic institutional constraints on Tanzanian development The main challenges…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 7: Power Sector Chapter outline Introduction The Tanzanian power sector: structure and performance Institutional structure Power sector performance The Tanzanian power sector’s institutional development Early institutional infrastructure in the power sector – the colonial period From…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 6: Land Rights Chapter outline Overview A brief historical perspective on land tenure issues Legal land tenure in Tanzania according to the 1999 Land Act Rights of occupancy Land transformation by the state and the issue…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 5: Decentralization and development Chapter outline Introduction The theory of central–local government relationships The evolution of local government in Tanzania Local and central governance in Tanzania today: a complex and confusing legal framework Fiscal decentralisation: the…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 4: Civil Service Chapter outline Introduction The role and political context of the civil service in economic development The transitional phase, 1961–66 The socialist phase, 1967–85 The liberalisation phase, 1986 to date Constraints to effective civil…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 3: Politics and business Chapter outline Introduction Theoretical framework and methodology The early independence period: 1961–66 The situation at independence Origins of the position of Asians Development initiatives in early post-independence period Continued concern over social…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 2: Tanzanian institutional strengths and weaknesses Chapter outline Introduction The Country Institutional Survey (CIS): experts’ opinions on Tanzanian institutions The survey: design of the questionnaire Execution of the survey Most critical institutions for the development of Tanzania…

Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic Chapter 1: Reflections on the political and economic development of Tanzania Chapter outline A short account of the political history of Tanzania The colonial era The German colonisation The British mandate on Tanganyika Independence Forging a nation: the…

François Bourguignon and Sam Wangwe provide an introduction to the analysis produced for the Tanzania Institutional Diagnostic. The authors outline three approaches have been developed to identify the institutional factors hindering development or ways of remedying specific factors: historical case studies;…

A presentation by Erica Field and Kate Vyborny This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

A presentation by Aprajit Mahajan (UC Berkeley), Shekhar Mittal (UC Berkeley) and Ofir Reich (formerly CEGA) This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of…

A presentation by Ernesto Dal Bó and Federico Finan, University of California, Berkeley This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.  

A presentation by Bilal Siddiqi, DIME, World Bank This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

A presentation by Andrew Zeitlin, Georgetown University This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

“Relaxing credit and tenure security constraints: Credit and land titling in Uganda” A presentation by Michael O’Sullivan (with contributions from Maitreesh Ghatak, Markus Goldstein, James Habyarimana, Joao Montalvao, Christopher Udry) This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by…

A presentation by Gianmarco León (with Erika Deserrano and Philipp Kastrau) This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

“Using administrative data systems to improve court efficiency (India, Kenya, Tanzania)” A presentation by Bilal Siddiqi, DIME, World Bank This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read…

“Improving the effectiveness of labor courts through information and conciliation” A presentation by Joyce Sadka, Enrique Seira and Chris Woodruff, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University…

A presentation by Edward Miguel, University of California, Berkeley This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

A presentation by Justine Knebelmann, Paris School of Economics This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

“Using digital trails to improve management and accountability for public service delivery (India)” A presentation by Charity Moore, Harvard Kennedy School This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August…

A presentation by Kate Casey, Stanford GSB This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

A presentation by Pierre Bachas (World Bank Research) This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

A presentation by Eric Arias, William & Mary This presentation was part of the convening event hosted by CEGA at the University of California, Berkeley, in August 2018. Read a summary of the event.

Female Employment and Aspirations for Children: Evidence from Bangladesh’s Garment Industry This EDI Policy Brief provides insight into gender roles and aspirations for children among a sample of families involved with the Bangladeshi garment industry. It is based upon an…

This video provides an overview of the first year of the programme, where 23 path-findings papers were produced by world class academics that identified the research gaps and set the priorities for the remaining four years of EDI.

Where does the evidence stand on institutions, development and growth? This paper explores the empirical evidence on institutions and growth. The empirical evidence on institutions ranges from historical studies to econometric analyses, with different studies making very different theoretical commitments…

This policy brief reflects on the EDI Path-Finding Paper, “The dynamics of family systems: lessons from past and present time,” written by Catherine Guirkinger and Jean-Philippe Platteau. It exposes the main lessons from salient studies that have estimated the effects…

This paper provides an overview of the literature on political clientelism  and its relation to economic development. It starts by describing the range of mechanisms used by political operatives to monitor how specific voters vote in order to target clientelistic…

Catherine Guirkinger and Jean-Philippe Platteau discuss their findings based on their research on the dynamic aspects of family institutions. Their findings have also been published in the EDI Path-Finding Paper, ‘The Dynamics of Family Systems: lessons from past and present times‘.

A Policy Brief Prepared for the World Bank’s 2017 Law, Justice and Development Week October 2017. Economic inequalities divide men and women around the world. Women on average earn just 60-70% of what their male counterparts earn. They are less likely to participate…

This document provides an outline of the methodology and research process for the Benin Institutional Diagnostic.

This brief, based on Klasen’s path-finding paper titled ‘Gender, Institutions and Economic Development: Findings, Open Research and Policy Issues’ focuses on the way he treats gender gaps as the outcome of institutional features, formal and informal.  And on how formal institutions, informal…

This paper reviews and discusses the literature on formal institutions and development. We first discuss the mapping from institutions to economic development, with the main emphasis on the effect on economic growth. We thereafter discuss two main literatures on endogenous…

Market exchange involves many cognitive and non-cognitive processes, e.g., search, inference, prediction, negotiation. Much attention has been devoted to these issues both in theory and in experimental economics. I focus on the enforcement of market transactions against opportunistic behavior. I…

This paper presents a survey of the literature on culture in economics, emphasizing the effects of culture as well as the origins of cultural development. Research finds culture to have a large set of effects on economic behaviors, outcomes and …

This paper reviews the economic literature on how family systems respond to changes in resource endowments, outside economic opportunities, the development of markets, and surrounding institutions. On topics where economic contributions are scarce, we also provide insights from other disciplines,…

Institutions are commonly defined as the rules of the game that societies play which in shared understanding act as constraints on and guidelines for economic performance. This paper provides an overview of case studies from the two largest developing countries,…

A next step forward in examining economic growth and institutions is examining the frequency, timing and magnitude of “growth episodes”—discrete accelerations and de-celerations in medium to long run growth.  This will be challenging as to the extent that very long-run…

The paper surveys the very heterogeneous economic literature on the scope and limits of efforts to match institutional constraints and needs, on the one hand, and infrastructure policy and project designs, on the other, to increase the odds of improving…

This paper reviews and synthesizes current knowledge on the role of institutions on firm financing and growth in developing countries. First, the paper presents stylized facts on the different institutional constraints under which firms in developing countries operate. Next, the…

This paper takes stock of and provides a critical review of several literatures, notably the theoretical and empirical work on finance and growth and studies on the determinants of financial development. These two literatures are linked as the sustainable expansion…

This paper provides a selective review of evidence from labor markets in low-income countries. The aim is to synthesize this literature to consolidate what is known about the key drivers of worker outcomes (including those of micro-entrepreneurs), firm behavior, and the interaction between…

A large share of children in low income countries learn little and complete their primary education lacking even basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. We review the experimental literature on teacher effort, knowledge, and skills – areas we argue are…

The paper discusses Marx’s view on the relationship between technological change and institutional change as presented in the famous preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy.  What Marx meant by a contradiction between the base and the…

The paper focuses on the role played by Trade Related Institutions (TRIs) in shaping trade flows and their development impact in low income countries and how these TRIs are shaped by international trade. Three types of TRIs are examined: i)…

This paper surveys the literature on the two-way relationship between development aid and the quality of institutions in developing countries. Aid may improve institutions, e.g. when conditionality succeeds, but it can also have unintended effects that are typically negative, e.g….

In this review, we examine the links between economic development and social conflict. By economic development, we refer broadly to aggregate changes in per-capita income and wealth, or in the distribution of that wealth. By social conflict, we refer to…

Gender relations are a key institution governing important aspects of production and reproduction of societies. They are guided by formal institutions as well as informal norms and values. As this survey shows, there is great regional heterogeneity in gender inequality…

Environmental problems may be classified by the scale of the relevant externalities. Some externalities are primarily local, for example, those concerning the management of resources like forests, pastures and inland fisheries, or local air and water pollution. Others are mainly regional…

I ask what clues do historical and contemporary data provide for theory building and empirical work to enhance our understanding of the relationship between institutions and inequality. The survey begins with a brief overview of the role of institutions in…

Group inequality is a prominent feature of many modern democracies. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of what we know about the ways in which major democracies have viewed social groups and addressed inequalities between them. Countries…

This survey examines the relationship between community networks and migration. Adding networks to the Roy model, the workhorse model of migration in economics, is shown to reconcile key stylized facts on migration with the theory. This addition is supported by…

This paper reviews the channels through which the media can be a tool of institutional development, building the argument in two parts. First I focus on the media as a tool for accountability: by providing information on candidates ex ante,…

We present accepted basic arguments on the role of institutions in development and then discuss the corresponding empirical evidence in support (or not) of those arguments. Methodologically, our emphasis is on experimental evidence wherever available, and thematically we focus on…

This video provides an overview of the importance of linking Randomised Control Trials to create learning opportunities and ensure policy relevance at all levels of the research.  In April 2016 EDI, in partnership with CEGA, organised a matchmaking workshop, which was…

Louis Kasekende (Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda) discusses the role of formal and informal institutions in the financial sector. He refers to recent EDI path-finding research papers to focus on the transition from informal to formal institutions and its effect…

Joan Esteban (Institute for Economic Analysis) and Debraj Ray (New York University) explain how civil wars are the major impediments to growth, and offer three lessons from existing research. Watch our Spotlight on Conflict and Development below:

Kaivan Munshi (University of Cambridge) explores how labour movements and development are linked, and provides insight into the role of policy around this area. Watch the video below for his overview:

Sam Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute explains how institutions are the rules of the game, that regulate how we interact with each other. “If we don’t understand how institutions work, we can’t possibly understand how economies change,” he says….

A number of EDI colleagues and advisors provide an introductory overview of the Economic Development and Institutions research programme. “If you want to reduce the income gap between the poorest and non-poorest countries in the world, then you have to…