By Emanne Khan The mission of the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) is to advance interdisciplinary research on the role of human capital in human development to inform policy solutions to global challenges including poverty, women’s empowerment and sustainable economic growth through investments in education and health. In Fall 2021, HCI’s Core Faculty Members published a suite of […]
By Siddharth George Most people are shocked to learn that 34 percent of Indian Members of Parliament (MPs) face criminal charges. These are not trifling charges like unlawful assembly; rather, the majority of MPs with a criminal record—some two-thirds of the 44 percent, or nearly 30 percent of all MPs—face charges for serious crimes such […]
When democratic societies hold elections, voters face the task of collecting information on candidates and deciding who to support at the polls. In an ideal world, this system would filter out “bad” candidates, but yet, in India—the world’s most populous democracy—approximately 34 percent of elected national legislators face criminal charges, and nearly ten percent of […]
2020 was a year of widening inequality around the world. The World Economic Outlook Update published by the International Monetary Fund in January 2021 estimated the global economy contraction at -3.5 percent in 2020. The decade-long gains in eradicating global poverty were reversed, with about 100 million people estimated to be pushed back into extreme […]
Siddharth George, Assistant Professor of Economics at Boston University, is the newest faculty member of the Human Capital Initiative at the Global Development Policy Center. The Human Capital Initiative brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers across the Boston University community to contribute to the advancement of innovative research on the political economy of human development. […]