This report studies the impact that gender differences in Bangladesh have on access to energy and energy services and the consequences of these impacts based on review of recent literature on the matter. The report concludes that the structural gender differences that arise from cultural and...

This paper provides an empirical exploration of the “rice theory of culture” which implies that rice cultivation promotes a culture of cooperation and peace. Using fine-grained, cross sectional data geocoded at 0.5 degree latitude by 0.5 degree longitude, I investigate whether rice...

Our study establishes a linkage between household level food sufficiency and food sharing behavior with the reduction of low-intensity micro level conflict using primary data from 1763 households of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. We first examine if food sufficient households are less...

The debate on whether natural disasters cause significant macroeconomic impacts and indeed hinder development is ongoing. Most analyses along these lines have focused on impacts on gross domestic product. This paper looks beyond this standard national accounting aggregate, and examines whether...

East Asia has experienced a dramatic decrease in output growth volatility over the past 20 years. This is good news, as output growth volatility affects poor households because of coping strategies that have long-term, harmful consequences, and the overall economy through its negative impact on...

This paper analyzes the drivers and consequences of sudden stops of capital flows. It focuses on the impact of external vulnerability on the depth and length of sudden stop crises. The authors analyze 43 developing and developed countries between 1993 and 2006. They find evidence that external...

This paper analyzes the impact of banking crises on manufacturing exports exploiting the fact that sectors differ in their needs for external financing. Relying on data from 23 banking crises episodes involving both developed and developing countries during the period 1980-2000 the authors...

High youth unemployment rates may be a signal of difficult labor market entry for youth or may reflect high churning. The European and United States literature finds the latter conclusion while the Latin American literature suggests the former. This paper uses panel data to examine whether Latin...

Despite the recent increase in capital flows to Sub-Saharan Africa, the region remains largely marginalized in financial globalization and chronically dependent on official development aid. And with the potential decline in the level of official development assistance in a context of global...