Primary school enrolment rates are very low in francophone Africa. In order to enhance education supply, many countries have launched large teacher recruitment programmes in recent years, whereby teachers are no longer engaged on civil servant positions, but on the basis of (fixed-term)...

Low teacher motivation and its detrimental effect on student achievement are central problems of many education systems in Africa. Using standardized data for student achievement in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar and Senegal, this paper analyzes the empirical links between...

Applying the general question of aid effectiveness to the sector of education, this paper reveals an overall positive effect of development assistance on primary enrolment. However, even the most optimistic estimates clearly show that at any realistic rate of growth, aid will never be able to...

As opposed to many other school inputs, textbooks have frequently been demonstrated to significantly foster student achievement. Using the rich data set provided by the 'Program on the Analysis of Education Systems' (PASEC) for five francophone, sub-Saharan African countries, this paper goes...

Variations of bilateral aid flows are difficult to explain on the basis of official development objectives or recipient need. At the example of US aid to Pakistan, this paper suggests alternative political economic explanations, notably the relevance of ethnic lobbying and the relevance of US...

Donor agencies invest considerable financial and human resources to evaluate the outcome of their development activities. To derive institutional conditions conducive to an efficient use of these resources, we develop a multi-level principal-agent model focusing on the various interests of the...

The spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has started around a decade ago. This development carries the potential to substantially transform labor markets and employment, especially in countries with a low level of economic infrastructure. ICT has already created numerous new...

We offer new conceptual insights into the understanding of occupational choice in uncertain rural environments, with a focus on its ex ante (before a shock) and ex post (after a shock) consequences for farmers belonging to different portions of the asset distribution. We model theoretically the...

India's negotiation strategies in international climate policy have considerably changed over the past decade. While core positions have not altered substantially, the way they were presented and supported at the international level reveals major changes. In particular between 2007 and 2011,...