In this pilot project, we demonstrate the exciting potential of online freelancing for improving the incomes of poor youth in rural Bangladesh. We also highlight the constraints to this type of work: financing constraints for the high training cost, access to the necessary work infrastructure, and soft skills requirements to success in the market. We shed light on some promising possibilities for innovative financing contracts and for ‘virtual exporting companies’ to act as freelancing incubators and assist students in their development.
Do customers discriminate between workers? This work returns to this long-standing question by asking what role customers play in gender-based discrimination in labour markets in low-income countries.
How can unconditional cash transfers (UCT) be leveraged to boost household incomes beyond addressing short-term food insecurity in a prolonged humanitarian crisis setting?
Using survey and interview data gathered from 13 countries in Africa, and bond issuance data from DataStream, this study reveals that corporate bond markets in Africa use reasonably modern trading infrastructure.
In response to the Covid-19 crisis, 186 countries implemented direct cash transfers to households, and 181 introduced in-kind programs that lowered the cost of utilities such as electricity, water, transport, and mobile money.
How can unconditional cash transfers (UCT) be leveraged to boost household incomes beyond addressing short-term food insecurity in a prolonged humanitarian crisis setting?