Theory predicts that trade liberalization should raise average total factor productivity (TFP) among manufacturing firms. However, this is a generic prediction and depends on maintained assumptions about industries, factor markets, and trade patterns that may not fit well for developing...

"The Minister of Finance of an African country needs to reallocate the country's public investment to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the proportion of the poor and hungry by 2015: Should the minister increase investment in health and education, with the view that...

1. Introduction / Tewodaj Mogues and Samuel Benin -- 2. Public spending for agriculture in Africa : definition, measures, and trends / Shenggen Fan and Anuja Saurkar -- 3. Agricultural growth and poverty reduction impacts of public investments : concepts and techniques for undertaking...

This study evaluates the impacts of a community-driven development (CDD) project on household income and acquisition of productive assets in Nigeria. Using panel data and difference-in-differences and propensity score matching approaches, the study finds that the project succeeded in targeting...

Using rich panel data on all of Ghana’s districts’ local public finances over 11 years, this paper investigates the way that intergovernmental and other transfers to local governments affect local governments’ incentives to collect internally generated revenues and funds (IGF). We find...

This study evaluates the impacts of a community-driven development (CDD) project on household income and acquisition of productive assets in Nigeria. Using recall data, difference-in-differences, and propensity score matching approaches, the study finds that the project succeeded in targeting...