Reducing tax rates increases tax revenues when enforcement capacity is low. However, low-capacity states can invest in tax enforcement to shift up the revenue-maximising tax rate.

Implementation metrics explain much of the difference in effectiveness for a set of education programmes across studies and settings, playing a key role in generalisability

A shared performance incentive scheme for health workers and their supervisors improved productivity and health outcomes and was more effective than paying the incentive to only one group

In Namibia, providing a short list of specific saving strategies reduced water consumption by 5% while simply raising awareness and asking households to find their own strategies was ineffective

This article explores the extent to which apartheid negatively impacted educational attainment, and shows that this occurred primarily through changing early childhood environments

Variation in social structure shapes the formation of financial ties and the spillover effects of public policy in East Africa

Labour market power hinders development by suppressing wage employment and also fostering a dependence on self-employment that undermines the effectiveness of policies aiming to boost wages and wage employment

Improving early child development outcomes in low-income settings requires affordable, sustainable, and easily scalable solutions. The “First Steps” programme in Rwanda has substantial positive effects on child development and offers a blueprint for interventions seeking to improve parental practices.

It is only democracies that perform well on the dimensions that the public cares about – economic growth, control of corruption, peace and political stability and public good provision – that build support for democratic institutions