Institutions & Political Economy

When foreign troops undermine community cohesion in conflict zones

In Afghanistan, counterinsurgency efforts weakened community ties and local trust – ultimately undermining the foundations needed for reconstruction and peace.

Sarah Langlotz

Published

26.06.26

Do protests work? Why political alignment determines economic redistribution

Evidence from Nigeria shows that protests can influence fiscal redistribution, but the manner and direction depend critically on the political relationship between disbursing governments and protesting regions.

Institutions & Political Economy

Belinda Archibong Chinemelu Okafor Evans Osabuohien Tom Moerenhout

Published

24.06.26

How South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission reshaped racial boundaries post-apartheid

Thirty years after South Africa created its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, its legacy remains contested. New evidence shows why: the TRC helped bring Black South Africans closer together, but also deepened the divide between Black and White com...

Institutions & Political Economy

Thomas Gautier Daniela Horta Sáenz Gianluca Russo

Published

23.06.26

How courts really work in developing countries

Courts in the Global South often operate under conditions of weak statehood, political instability, and social fragmentation – yet research shows they can still function effectively, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Institutions & Political Economy

Fiona Shen-Bayh

Published

24.06.26

Non-elite women in politics: Participation, power, and patriarchal norms

Efforts to close gender gaps in politics have focused heavily on getting women elected to parliament, but this overlooks the very different challenges facing non-elite women. New research examines how patriarchal norms, social networks, and a lack of...

Institutions & Political Economy

Soledad Artiz Prillaman

Published

18.06.26

Dean Karlan on USAID, evidence-based policy, and key research gaps

What does the push for evidence-based policy actually look like inside institutions?

Institutions & Political Economy

Dean Karlan Oliver Hanney

Published

16.06.26

How land formalisation protects widows from dispossession

A land formalisation programme in Benin significantly increased the likelihood that widows – especially those without a son – remained in their villages, offering formal institutional protection where customary norms left women most vulnerable.

Institutions & Political Economy

Ioana Botea Markus Goldstein Kenneth Houngbedji Florence Kondylis Michael O’Sullivan Harris Selod

Published

16.06.26

Why are so many women in Africa converting to Christianity?

The persistence of patriarchal clan-based orders around the world is a serious hindrance to development not least because they constrain women’s emancipation. Drawing on varied empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa, we argue that women’s convers...

Institutions & Political Economy

Pablo Álvarez-Aragón Catherine Guirkinger Jean-Philippe Platteau

Published

12.06.26

The end of aid dependency

With international aid in structural decline, W. Gyude Moore argues that developing countries must recentre their strategies around growth diagnostics, tradable-sector expansion, and legally mandated development plans – using remaining aid flows stra...

Institutions & Political Economy

W. Gyude Moore

Published

10.06.26