We examine the effect of social institutions related to gender inequality on development outcomes. By characterizing and applying the recently developed Social Institution and Gender Index (SIGI) and its sub-components, we show how social institutions related to gender inequality are associated...

This paper attempts to determine the municipal level impact of the 1994 Law 142 water and sewerage services reforms on child mortality and service coverage. The objective of these reforms was to transfer service provision from the municipalities to specialized companies. These reforms were...

This paper estimates the causal effect of maternal participation in adult literacy programs on child mortality in rural Ghana, taking into account the possible endogeneity of program participation and endogenous program placement. Adult literacy program participation has a substantial impact on...

Using rural household panel data from three Chinese provinces, this paper identifies determinants of long-term poverty and tests the duration dependence on the probability to leave poverty. Special emphasis is given to the selection of the poverty line and inter-regional differences across...

Public–private partnership (PPP) has gained popularity during the market-oriented reforms in China’s urban infrastructure sectors. This paper explores how city characteristics, spatial pressures, and other institutional forces condition the extent of liberalization reforms in local...

Using the national China Household Income Project 2007 urban survey data and a propensity score matching method, this article investigates whether welfare receipt helped enable low-income families to spend more on human capital. We find that welfare recipient families prioritized spending in...

This paper evaluates how caste influences economic comparisons in India. Using happiness data from an original panel survey, we find that both within-caste comparisons and between-caste comparisons reduce well-being. Between-caste comparisons reduce well-being three times more than within-caste...

Aquaculture is widely held to contribute to poverty reduction and food security in the Global South, but robust evidence is limited. Using nationally representative data from Bangladesh, this study analyses changes in fish consumption from 2000 to 2010. Rapid expansion of commercial aquaculture...

Affirmative action, in the form of reservation policies, to address the issues of inclusion has been in place in India for a long time. While its scope has enlarged with inclusion of new social groups, the efficacy remains a matter of debate. This paper explores if parental education is an...

This paper examines the political economy of tourism development in islands and uses Gili Trawangan, Indonesia as a case study. A longitudinal study drawing from fieldwork contributes to the discussion of how different types of power shape community development, and how the effects of hosting...