Harvard Kennedy School | Harvard University

Observing Development Projects

Partner

BSC is implemented under the Research and Communication on Foreign Aid (ReCom) project of UNU-WIDER.

Observing Development Projects

Building State Capability is a policy and action oriented research endeavor hoping to change development practice. Through our work with students, the engagements of BSC researchers, and others in the field, we generate examples of practice of how building state capability might be, and is, being done differently. These are not pure academic research papers and are not produced by BSC researchers, but nevertheless are an integral part of the overall state capability and development agenda.

Papers

Escaping the capability trap: turning "small" development into "big" development
Edgardo J. Campos, Benjamina Randrianarivelo, Kay Winning
December 2013

Budgeting in the Real World: from positive deviants to models for success
Stephanie Allan - ODI Cape Conference 2013
November 2013

Behavioral Economics and Public Sector Reform: An Accidental Experiment and Lessons from Cameroon
Gael Raballand, Anand Rajaram
September 2013

How Feedback Loops can Improve Aid
Dennis Whittle
August 2013

Unblocking results: using aid to address governance contraints in public service delivery
Heidi Tavakoli, Rebecca Simson and Helen Tilley with David Booth
May 2013

Searching the Clinical Fitness Landscape
Margaret J. Eppstein, Jeffrey D. Horbar, Jeffrey S. Buzas, Stuart A. Kauffman, November 2012

Institutions Taking Root: Building State Capacity in Challenging Contexts
Naazneen H. Barma, Elisabeth Huybens, Lorena Viñuela, 2012

The F-word: Failure In International Development Creating Space For Learning and Innovation
Michael Eddy, 2012

Afghanistan: Rethinking approaches to managing change in fragile states
Frauke de Weijer, September 2012

Republic of South Sudan: "Little pushes" for agricultural development
Shannon Ding and Elise Tosun, March 2012

India: Learning to learn: A New Approach to Education Policymaking
Andrew Fraker and Neil Buddy Shah, March 2011

Spurring Innovation Through Prizes
Brad Cunningham, March 2011

Bangladesh: Optimizing learning from innovative development projects: The case of Shiree
Avnish Gungadurdoss and Rubayat Khan, March 2012
(Available by request. Please contact us for more information.)

Presentations & Blogs

Cookie cutters and context: The limits of institutional reform in development
Alan Hudson - One, February 2013

Meal scheme in 'capability trap'
Yamini Aiyar - Live mint & The Wall Street Journal, February 2013

The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development - Changing Rules for Realistic Solutions: Getting Stuff Done
Sina Odugbemi, February 2013

Why don’t people in power do the right thing – supply, demand or collective action problem? And what do we do about it?
Duncan Green, January 2013

Let's Look Beyond Random Trials When Assessing New Drug Treatments
Stuart Kauffman, NPR Cosmos & Culture

M&E - a top down imposition
Bottom Up Thinking, January 2013

Lant Pritchett v the Randomistas on the nature of evidence – is a wonkwar brewing?
Duncan Green, November 2012

Cash is no cure-all
Lant Pritchett and Shrayana Bhattacharya, November 2012

The blind spots in the UN development agenda
Chris Blattman, November 2012

How can the Knowledge Bank make development more effective?
Philip Keefer, Ghazala Mansuri, Vijayendra Rao, and Michael Woolcock, October 2012

India's State Capability Deficit
Gulzar Natrajan, October 2012

India: A Question of Accountability
Lant Pritchett and Shrayana Bhattacharya October 2012

India: Achilles' Heel of Social Policy
Lant Pritchett and Shrayana Bhattacharya, June 2012

Development and complexity
Owen Barder, 2012

What use are models of change? An experiment in Tanzania
Duncan Green, May 2011

Building accountability in Tanzania: applying an evolutionary/venture capitalist theory of change
Duncan Green, April 2012

Impact Evaluation 3.0
Chris Blattman, September 2011