Growth and Development Commons^™

Beyond The Aid Paradigm: Neocolonialism, Recolonisation And The Future For Africa’S Development, John Ringson, Manamela Johannes David Matshabaphala

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The persistence of poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment in Africa, despite decades of foreign aid and assistance, has raised fundamental questions about the efficacy and sustainability of the aid paradigm. This qualitative desktop research study, employing discourse analysis, critically examines the complex relationships between aid, neocolonialism, and recolonisation in Africa, exploring the implications for the continent's future development. Drawing on a critical discourse analysis of existing literature, policy documents, and online archives, this study reveals how the aid paradigm has perpetuated neocolonialism and recolonisation in Africa, undermining the continent's sovereignty, agency, and self-determination. The study illuminates the power dynamics and relationships …

Upper Peninsula Regional Economic Development Strategy, Iryna V. Lendel, Chloe Wieber, Gerrit Anderson, Sevrin Williams

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This comprehensive report describes the economy of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, outlining both persistent issues and emerging opportunities. The region faces several structural challenges, including a decline in prime-age workers and bachelor’s degree attainment that falls below state and national averages, while shortages in housing and healthcare further limit its ability to attract and retain residents. Despite those challenges, the U.P.’s universities, longstanding industries, abundant natural resources, and robust outdoor recreation economy provide strong foundations for future development. The report recommends strategies such as strengthening retention of the talent pipeline, expanding housing and healthcare capacity, fostering small and mid-sized firms in …

Unequal Shocks: The Heterogeneous Impact Of Earthquakes, Claire Marie James

Master's Theses

What effect does neighborhood wealth have on disaster outcomes and disaster induced migration? Using the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake in Southern Türkiye and Syria as a natural shock, I examine how the short term migration response to building damage and earthquake exposure differs by average neighborhood home prices. Using a panel dataset of population by bing tile, from Meta’s Data for Good Project, I employ time series and cross sectional regression analysis. I find that wealthy neighborhoods are better able to retain population than non-wealthy counterparts.

Economic Development In Cartersville, Ms: A Case Study Of A Non-Profit Organization's Community Development Projects, Mckenzie B. Perkins

Honors Theses

The Mississippi Delta Region has long faced significant economic, educational, and health challenges and a steady population decline since the 1940s. In response, community development projects have emerged as powerful tools to promote health, well-being, and social mobility. This thesis investigates the impact of community development initiatives in Cartersville, MS, focusing on the dental clinic, educational programs, and the economic development center established by a non-profit organization. Through the lens of community development theories, the research explores how community leadership, particularly partnerships between EverHope Ministries and Cartersville leaders, is pivotal in addressing health disparities in historically marginalized populations. By engaging …

Preparing Youth For Careers In Drone Aviation: Evaluating Washington County 4-H Drone Camps, Paul A. Hill, Aubree L. Miller, Katarina J. Aikens

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Drone technology presents growing career opportunities, yet youth access to education in this field remains limited. This study evaluates the Washington County 4-H Drone Camps, which aimed to equip youth in 4^th – 8^th graders with essential knowledge and skills in drone aviation. The Drone Camps focused on competencies such as drone anatomy, FAA regulations, and piloting skills. Evaluation results indicated youth improved in all competency areas after completing the camp. The Washington County 4-H Drone Camps effectively allowed youth to explore drone technologies and prepare them for a possible career pathway.

The Cashew Nut Industry In Mongu District: Origins, Development, And Impact, 1972–2011, Namushi Situtu

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article explores the contribution of the cashew nut industry to the economic development of Mongu district. The industry was introduced in Mongu district after the Zambian government embarked on the creation of agricultural schemes to reduce the economic imbalance, inherited from the colonial government, between urban and rural areas. The new United National Independence Party government, which came to power in 1964, wanted to develop rural areas through an improved peasantry class. This led to the establishment of agricultural schemes in various rural parts of the country. Due to the sandy terrain of Mongu district, the cashew nut industry …

Report Cards: Parental Preferences, Information And School Choice In Haiti, Michael Borger, Gregory Elacqua, Isabel Jacas, Christopher Neilson, Anne Sofie Westh Olsen

Discussion Papers

This paper studies school choice and information frictions in Haiti. Through a randomized control trial, we assess the impact of disclosing school-level test score information on learning outcomes, prices, and market shares. We find evidence that in markets where information was disclosed, students attending private schools increased test scores. The results also suggest private schools with higher baseline test scores increased their market share as well as their fees when the disclosure policy is implemented. While prices and test scores were not significantly correlated in the baseline survey, they exhibited a significant and positive correlation in treatment markets after information …

Evaluating The Applicability Of Hernando De Soto's Theories In Context Of Bangladesh's Informal Housing Sector, Md Mohotasim R. Khan

2024 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

This research project examines Bangladesh's urban informal housing sector, aiming to understand the dynamics considering Hernando de Soto's theories, as articulated in "The Other Path." With 52% of urban residents living in slums, the study adopts a mixed-method approach, analyzing De Soto's framework, conducting literature reviews, case studies, and utilizing secondary data on urban informal housing. The objective is to identify structural and operational aspects of informal housing in Bangladesh and compare these with De Soto's observations in Peru. The significance is underscored by its focus on socio-economic perspectives, offering insights into the informal housing sector's impact on development indicators. …

Southern Nevada Regional Industrial Study, Brookings Mountain West, Center For Business And Economic Research, Transportation Research Center

Policy Briefs and Reports

Recognizing the ongoing need to diversify the Southern Nevada economy, in 2023 GOED commissioned Brookings Mountain West, the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research, and the UNLV Transportation Research Center to evaluate how Southern Nevada can leverage its geography and connectivity to neighboring states and metros at the megapolitan level to pursue industrial opportunities in the face of shifting global supply chains, diminishing developable land, the need for efficient management of the regional water supply, and the availability of unprecedented federal resources to support clean energy development, manufacturing, electrification of transportation systems, and supply-chain resiliency.

The study builds on …

The Economic Costs Of Political Instability: Evidence From Pakistan, Shahid Hussain, Falik Shear

Business Review

This study analyses the impact of Political Instability (PI) on economic growth. PI is referred as the frequent regime or government changes in a country. PI affects economic growth due to inconsistent and uncertain government policies regarding investment and trade, tax system, government spending and fiscal balance, debt structure, monetary policy, exchange rates and inflation. PI coupled with these factors affects internal and external investments and ultimately future economic growth rates. Employing data from Pakistan for the period of 1984-2018, a country with a long history of various episodes of political instability under various democratic and non-democratic regimes, this study …

The Impact Of Globalization On Domestic Growth In Africa, Thomas L. Ainscough, Todd M. Shank

Journal of Global Business Insights

Research into the impacts of globalization on domestic growth in Africa has been scarce and the results of the research that does exist have been mixed. This research addresses this gap in the literature by using the newly revised KOF Globalization Index to determine the impact of social, political, and financial globalization on African economies. The KOF Index was revised substantially in 2019. Our full data set includes 40 years of data, from 1980-2019. Findings indicate that the relationship between globalization and GDP is best represented by a non-linear cubic model. With that model, social globalization has become Africa’s most …

Evaluating The “What’S Up Down South” Economic Summit: A Platform For Business Leaders To Share Ideas, Paul A. Hill, Amanda D. Ali

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The What’s Up Down South economic summit is southern Utah’s largest business gathering. The event provides the business community with economic insights to assist them in making informed decisions. USU Extension evaluated the 27^th annual What's Up Down South economic summit. Results showed the event was an effective platform for disseminating information and advancing knowledge on economic and business topics. Participants felt the summit provided a valuable experience to the business community. These findings support the continuation of the summit's information dissemination activities in the future.

Gender Inequality And Economic Decline: A Comparative Analysis Of Gender Roles And Its Impact On Economic Development In Egypt And Iran, Kayla E. Joyner

Senior Theses

This thesis will demonstrate that increasing female labor force participation in Iran and Egypt will facilitate overall economic growth, reduce poverty rates, and increase family investment in education and health. There are three critical factors that I will examine that are significantly deterring female participation in the labor force in these two countries specifically: sociocultural values, legal barriers, and economic policies. By refusing to mobilize the increasing potential female labor force, Iran and Egypt are hindering the nation’s social and economic development.

Assessment Of Industrial Policies In Ghana: A Case Study On The Current Policy Of One District One Factory Policy (1d1f), Ama Nyamekye Obenewa Otoo

Masters Theses

Industrialization has been the weakest link in Ghana’s economic development efforts. Import-substitution industrialization policy of the 1960s-1980s and the outward liberalized industrialization policy of 1990-2020 (Vision 2020), have failed to achieve the goals of industrialization. This is due to several reasons including the selfish interests of these political leaders and lack of technological advancement. In 2017, the elected New Patriotic Party (NPP), announced a new industrialization policy known as “one district, one factory" (1D1F), which was a political campaign promise to realign industrial strategies. The goal of this policy is to ensure that industries are spread equitably among the country's …

Up In Smoke: Wildfires And Economic Growth, Nicholas Silvis

Gettysburg Economic Review

Do wildfires have a causal effect on economic development? Using satellite data, I analyze every country's exposure to wildfire exposure from 1982-2018. I use synthetic controls to model the impact of wildfire exposure on GDP per capita having controlled for population density, trade, agriculture, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and polity score. I find that the impacts of wildfires are fairly localized, impacting parts of Africa that both experience high numbers of wildfires and are developing.

The Economic Opportunity Mapping (Eom) Tool, Craig W. Carpenter, Anders Van Sandt, Rebekka Dudensing, Scott Loveridge, Linda S. Niehm

Journal of Extension

Extension professionals increasingly understand data as integral to economic development planning and related efforts. However, regional economic data is often inaccurate, expensive, and unengaging for stakeholders. The Economic Opportunity Mapping Tool provides industry-specific free online interactive maps to engage stakeholders in the process of economic development planning, while also helping connect the determinants of business location with real local data on industry establishments.

Corruption And Non-Performing Loans, Ardit Gjeçi, Matej Marinč

Economic and Business Review

This article empirically evaluates the impact of corruption on the level of non-performing loans (NPLs) using the international bank-level data, spanning over the period 2000–2016 and across 140 countries. We find a positive and statistically significant relationship between corruption and NPLs. We also analyze the channels through which corruption affects NPLs. We find that the relationship between corruption and NPLs becomes more pronounced during and after the global financial crisis and is more pronounced for smaller banks. The association between corruption and NPLs is stronger in countries characterized by a high level of collectivism. The link between corruption and NPLs …

The Evolution Of The Southern Nevada Healthcare Economy: Building The Unlv Academic Health Center, The Lincy Institute

Lincy Institute Events

With the successful launch of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV and the completion of its medical education building, Southern Nevada is positioned to expand its healthcare infrastructure - and its healthcare economy - to create a comprehensive, integrated healthcare system to serve our fast-growing community. As UNLV moves forward with the development of an integrated academic health center within the Las Vegas Medical District, understanding the economic and social benefits of such a transformational project is important to stakeholders throughout the region.

The Lincy Institute hosted representatives of Tripp Umbach - the nation's leading consultant on community …

India’S Economy At 75 : Part Iii, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

Despite impressive achievements since 1991, India is facing several major challenges. A major problem is absorbing its youth in a productive labour force and finding gainful employment for them. Half of its population is under the age of 25. Only 35 per cent of the working age population has a job while 12 million new entrants would enter the labour force every year. The past record in labour absorption, despite impressive economic growth, has not been stellar. The great divide between the organized and unorganized parts of the economy is growing. Ninety per cent of the jobs are in the …

India’S Economy At 75 : Part Ii, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

India’s success factors may be many but three salient features need emphasis. First, Indian entrepreneurs are dynamic, vibrant and innovative. They even used the socialist economy regime of control and license raj for ‘learning by doing’. Just to give an example, India had a ramshackle automobile industry dominated by two outdated models until the 1990s. The suppliers, engineers, vendors, parts manufacturers did acquire the techniques of supply chain management, production and distribution under most adverse circumstances. When the economy did open up in the post-1991 period and the private sector allowed to set up manufacturing industries without prior approvals, among …

India’S Economy At 75 : Part I, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

India was considered by its colonial rulers as the brightest jewel in the British crown as it was relatively well-endowed in terms of natural and human resources, physical infrastructure, and entrepreneurship. India’s social and economic indicators at the time of independence were similar to those in the countries of Southeast Asia and China in terms of level of poverty, illiteracy, and health status. When independence was achieved, continuity with the past was least disrupted as the majority of the experienced civil servants who administered British India opted to serve the newly independent country. Another advantage was that the political party …

American Rescue Plan Act (Arpa): City And County Budget Allocations In The Mountain West, Katie M. Gilbertson, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet details how city and county governments within the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah allocated funds from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Brookings Metro in partnership with the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties created the “Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker” to display how communities across the country allocate this financial resource. This interactive site allows budget information from cities and counties to be added as such decisions are made.

The Rise Of Southern Nevada As A Cluster For Metropolitan Transit Technology Innovations, Arthur C. Nelson

Policy Briefs and Reports

Southern Nevada is emerging as the nation’s leader in private sector-driven innovations in transportation technologies. From the humble beginnings of a monorail system serving a portion of major hotel and gaming venues along the Las Vegas Strip, now supplemented by an array of people movers, Southern Nevada continues to attract transit innovations in tunneling, Hyperloop, and driverless vehicle delivery technologies. The region may soon anchor a high-speed rail system connecting Southern Nevada to Los Angeles. The purpose of this briefing paper is to frame the nature of this emerging transportation cluster and the opportunities this creates for Southern Nevada to …

The Partition Of Production Between Households And Markets, Christopher Colburn, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

The process of industrialization was accompanied by the switch from household production to firm production. The industrialization process was also a process of population growth, the appearance of general-purpose technologies, and the expansion of international trade. This paper studies the partition of production between households and firms in an analytically tractable general equilibrium model with a continuum of goods. We show that population growth, development of general-purpose technologies, and the opening of international trade increase the percentage of goods produced by firms. However, with the appearance of a technology biased toward home production, the percentage of goods produced by households …

Urbanization Policy And Economic Development: A Quantitative Analysis Of China's Differential Hukou Reforms, Wen-Tai Hsu, Lin Ma

Research Collection School Of Economics

The household registration system (hukou system) in China has hampered rural-urban migration by posing large migration friction. The system has been gradually relaxed in the past few decades, but the reforms have been differential in city size. We find a striking contrast in migration patterns between years 2005 and 2015; rural people tended to move more to large cities in 2005, but more to small- and medium-sized cities in 2015. We calibrate a spatial quantitative model to the world economy in both years with China divided into rural, mega-city, and other-city regions. We find that alternative urbanization policies that are …

Violence And Development: The Cost Countries Pay For High Rates Of Homicide, Brittany Lowe

The Cardinal Edge

Violence is one of the largest and most persistent humanitarian crises across the globe. Understanding violence’s role in economic costs and losses is crucial to informing and guiding decision makers. This study uses international panel data to conduct a log-linear regression with time and country fixed effects. It focuses on studying the causal effects of violent crime on GDP at an aggregate, international level. The results find that the homicide rate has a statistically significant, negative effect on GDP per capita. Acts of violence come not just at a humanitarian cost, but also at the cost of economic progress and …

2020 Most Dynamic Micropolitans In The Mountain West, Kelliann Beavers, Katie M. Gilbertson, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet draws from the “Most Dynamic Micropolitans 2020” report released by Heartland Forward, “an institute for economic renewal […] with a mission to improve economic performance in the center of the United States.” In this report, Heartland Forward offers the Most Dynamic Micropolitan Index to analyze the economies of smaller communities for a total of 515 micropolitan areas nationally. This fact sheet includes information on job growth, annual pay growth, and personal income growth for micropolitan areas in the Mountain West region.

Vision Redux: Power And Policy In Saudi Arabia, Ross Douglas Kimm

Theses and Dissertations

The size and scope of the Vision 2030 modernization plan and the associated Saudi Aramco initial public offering are watershed events in the history of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, they are not outside the history of the country’s development. This thesis, tracing the roots of this latest development plan back to the founding of the current Saudi state, found that Vision 2030 shares many characteristics with previous efforts. Further, it also found precedence for powerful princes rising to power at times of tectonic change. Finally, while historical context is key to understanding this moment in the Kingdom, …

Essays On Economic Development And Environmental Sustainability, Rohan Ray

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The first chapter is a randomized controlled trial study that uses loss framing and information nudges to increase secondary school attendance in Bangladesh. Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have become one of the most common policy interventions to increase school attendance, but the cost-effectiveness of such interventions has not attracted the attention it deserves. Hence, in addition to a standard CCT implementation, our rich unique dataset on daily attendance allows us to experimentally study two potential ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of school attendance interventions: (i) SMS information nudges and (ii) loss framing in CCTs. The former provides school attendance information …

America's Best Small Cities In The Mountain West, Katie M. Gilbertson, Kelliann Beavers, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr., Fatma Nasoz

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet reports the rankings of small cities in the Mountain West, based on perceived desirability for living, visiting, and investment. Resonance Consultancy’s “America’s Best Small Cities 2020,” report examines six key metrics: “People,” “Place,” “Product,” “Programming,” “Promotion,” and “Prosperity.” 11 small cities in the Mountain West are ranked within the top 100 in the United States.