Category: Front Page

Summer in the Field: Show Me How You Move – Developing Methodology for Estimating Demand for Transportation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

By Anastasiia Arbuzova In rapidly urbanizing cities like Addis Ababa, transport infrastructure serves as a crucial foundation for economic growth, social connectivity and overall quality of life. However, the benefits and challenges of mobility are not experienced equally across all segments of society. Women, who often carry responsibilities for housework, caregiving and work, face unique […]

Room to Grow: Integrating Climate Change in Debt Sustainability Analyses for Low-Income Countries

Developing countries need to invest heavily to transform their economies to achieve sustainable development and address climate change, but they are falling behind in the shift to clean energy, enhancing adaptation and resilience, addressing loss and damage, and restoring nature.  To meet these policy goals, debt sustainability analyses (DSAs) conducted by the International Monetary Fund […]

From Surcharges to the Debt-Climate Nexus: A Think20 Policy Brief Roundup

By Akanksha Goyal The Think20 (T20) is an engagement group of the Group of 20 (G20) that seeks to convene think tanks and research centers from G20 members, guest countries and organizations in order to provide evidence-based research to support policymaker decisions in the G20. As a busy fall policy season kicks off this month […]

The FinTech Revolution: Bridging Geospatial Data Science, AI and Sustainability

In a world of unprecedented challenges and opportunities, financial technology (fintech) stands as a pivotal force, at the crossroads of technology, finance and sustainability. In a new book published by Springer, “The FinTech Revolution: Bridging Geospatial Data Science, AI and Sustainability,” Sucharita Gopal and Josh Pitts examine the forefront of a revolutionary convergence, where economic […]

Webinar Summary: Chinese Loans to Africa Database – Data Update, 2000-2023

By Angie Ye On Wednesday, September 4, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) hosted a webinar discussion on the latest data and insights from the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database. Moderated by Rebecca Ray, Senior Academic Researcher with the Global China Initiative (GCI), the webinar featured a presentation by Lucas Engel, […]

The Dynamics of Women’s Political and Economic Empowerment: Q&A With Rachel Brulé

By Maureen Heydt Rachel Brulé, Associate Director of the Human Capital Initiative (HCI), Associate Professor of Global Development Policy with the Pardee School of Global Studies and 2024-2025 SAGE Sara Miller McCune Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University has been awarded a US National Science Foundation […]

Bringing Buybacks Back: A Known Debt Restructuring Tool with a Principled Twist

By Daniel Bradlow, Marina Zucker-Marques and Kevin P. Gallagher Many developing countries are experiencing what the World Bank has termed the “silent” sovereign debt crisis. It is silent because the international community has seemingly been hoping the creeping crisis will resolve itself on its own without ambitious intervention. Fifty-four countries are spending more than 10 […]

What’s in it for Borrowers? Explaining the Domestic Drivers of Chinese Development Finance in Latin America, 2008-2009

By Zara C. Albright Between 2008-2019, Latin American (LAC) countries borrowed $132 billion from Chinese development finance institutions (DFIs) and $155 billion from the World Bank, including its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) windows. Figure 1 illustrates the region’s borrowing patterns; LAC countries have consistently borrowed higher numbers […]

Towards a More Robust and Equitable Global Financial Safety Net

The global financial system has been facing a series of challenges, including high levels of indebtedness, climate shocks, inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates. Many in response have called for the international financial architecture to ensure a more equitable and resilient Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN), or the set of institutions tasked with providing emergency liquidity […]