Many parts of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have experienced volatility and fragility due to conflict over the course of the region's long and complex history. These conflicts have had significant impact on economic and human development indicators. Also, and more recently, massive...

The 2011 World Development Report (WDR) on 'Conflict, Security and Development' has reaffirmed global research that conflict is in many respects a self-perpetuating cycle. Put simply, factors related to the onset of conflict are reinforced by ensuing violence trapping countries in a cycle which...

To many, reducing water losses is seen as key to more sustainable water management. The arguments to reduce water losses are compelling, but reducing water losses has turned out to be challenging. This paper applies a panel data analysis with fixed effects to determine the major drivers of...

Aid is good for the poor. This paper uses detailed aid data spanning 60 developing countries over the past two decades to show that social aid significantly and directly benefits the poorest in society, while economic aid increases the income of the poor through growth. This new and unequivocal...

This paper uses the gravity model to analyze whether the varying export performance of Croatian counties can be explained by their proximity to border gates, ports, and other county-specific characteristics. The analysis finds that longer distances to border gates increase trade frictions...

Extension services are a keystone of information diffusion in agriculture. This paper exploits a large randomized controlled trial to track diffusion of a new technique in the classic Training and Visit (T&V) extension model, relative to a more direct training model. In both control and...