A debate has emerged over the optimal delivery of official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries: through grants or through concessional loans. While some countries such as Japan provide aid through loans, other countries tend to rely on grants. An endogenous growth model is...

This paper explores the extent to which macroprudential tools can be used to manage banking sector risks in Mongolia, a commodity producing country exposed to both procyclical and cross-sectional financial sector risks. Loose fiscal policy, rising credit activity, and heightened risk...

Inflation in Mongolia resembles a roller coaster ride with sharp rises and steep drops. Understanding why is critical for formulating and assessing monetary policy. Food prices are found to be a key driver of inflation, and, not surprising given Mongolia’s geography, are determined...

In rural areas of the developing world, where the majority of the poor live, good transport connectivity through road infrastructure and transport services is an essential part of the enabling environment for sustainable growth. A lack of detailed nationwide data has limited previous efforts to...

Rural access is among the most important infrastructure constraints in rural Africa. Using the results from comprehensive household surveys and other data from Ethiopia, the paper recasts light on the heterogeneous impacts of road accessibility on agriculture and nonagricultural growth. It is...

The traditional location theory predicts that firms' locational choice is independent of the output demand. However, firms are often concentrated in large markets. In Africa, agrobusinesses are expected to play an important role to facilitate agricultural growth but are hardly available in rural...

Health care access is a challenge in rural areas in Africa. On the demand side, rural people are often poor, and transport connectivity is typically bad in rural and remote areas. Because of limited transport connectivity, the quality of health care services provided is also often compromised....

The literature suggests a wide range of impacts of improved transport connectivity on agricultural growth. Still, the infrastructure-growth nexus remains somewhat mysterious, particularly in the African context, because many rural farmers do not have their own transport means. Using data from...

Health care access is an important policy concern, especially in rural areas. It is especially challenging in developing countries, where rural residents are poorer and less likely to be insured than those living in urban areas. Using the case of Liberia, this paper examines the effects of...

Transport connectivity is among the most important factors in increasing firm productivity and accelerating economic development. The literature generally supports the idea of agglomeration economies, although there is little evidence of their effectiveness in Africa. There are often empirical...