How can we improve health care management?

Provide more training, or more supportive supervision?

To ascertain what works, Dr. David Evans (Lead Economist at the World Bank), colleagues, and the Nigerian Ministry of Health ran a Randomised Control Trial.

What did they find? Why are RCTs useful? What are their limits?

And what other methodologies might we use to improve health care?

Spoiler: training alone is insufficient. Supportive supervision is key to improving health care management.

Curious? Check out the paper – co-authored with Felipe A. Dunsch, Felipe, Ezinne Eze-Ajoku, and Mario Macis: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/170951/1/dp10967.pdf

How can we assess the impact and scalability of complex interventions?

Why use mixed methods?

How can we tackle hubris among economists at the World Bank?

The wonderful Professor Michael Woolcock (Lead Social Scientist at the World Bank) makes the case for mixed methods.

This discussion draws on his chapter, forthcoming in Michiru Nagatsu and Attilia Ruzzene (eds.) (forthcoming) "Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Social Science: A Dialogue". (London: Bloomsbury Academic)

You can read more about his work here: http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/people/m/michael-woolcock

Although widely overlooked, formal rules have significantly impacted democratisation in African politics.

So, to understand democratisation, we need to focus less on personal relationships (like neopatrimonialism) and more on term limits, constitutions, electoral commissions, economic regulations and systems of land tenure.

When leaders uphold formal rules, this sets expectations, generating a positive feedback loop. For example, when a president stands down at the end of their term, subsequent presidents are more likely to do so.

In this podcast, Professor Nic Cheeseman discusses his fascinating new book, on how the rules of the game shape political developments.

Check out the book: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/institutions-and-democracy-in-africa/73ED89DF634FAFAA2D070F0ED4EE780F

Poverty is falling. It's falling due to global economic integration, and growth - or so claims the international development consensus.

But is this correct? And is this the best approach to meaningful poverty reduction?

What's the alternative? Could labour-led development accelerate poverty reduction?

Join us to discuss Professor Selwyn's new book, "The Struggle for Development". https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/The+Struggle+for+Development-p-9781509512782

What might reduce son preference in India?

Could equal inheritance rights help?

Actually no.

Despite legislative change, parents continue to favour sons, and protect their inheritance rights by killing or neglecting second-born daughters. Given low levels of female employment, parents still see sons as providers, and still see them as continuing the family lineage.

Dr. Sanchari Roy argues that to overcome inequalities we need much wider coordination: tackling opportunity costs; increasing exposure to women in employment; and enforcing gender quotas.

Or perhaps change will come from the patriarchy itself - as husbands fight for their wives' inheritance rights?

Curious? Read the full paper: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11239.pdf

And visit Sanchari's webpage: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/did/People/Academic-staff/Sanchari-Roy/Bio.aspx

Join us to discuss Professor Risman's fascinating new book:

- Are millennials more liberal?

- How are they challenging gender inequalities?

- Why do we need to organise collectively?

- What would enable more shared care work?

- Should we aspire for equality, or the destruction of gender categories?

Curious? Here's the book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/where-the-millennials-will-take-us-9780199324385?cc=gb&lang=en&

How has Bangladesh rapidly reduced poverty?

Is it due to microfinance, NGOs, growth, or an elite consensus?

The brilliant Dr. Hossain explains the history and politics behind Bangladesh's unexpected success.

Read more here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-aid-lab-9780198785507?cc=gb&lang=en&

Why do governments prioritise & invest in health care?

Is social activism key?

Not in the BRICS.

These governments primarily improved health care to buttress their *international reputations* - argues Dr. Ed Gomez, Senior Lecturer at King's College London.

Curious? Check out Ed's fascinating new book: https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/geopolitics-health

From the USA to Uganda, strong ethnic identities can fuel hostilities; deter contributions to public goods; thwart class-based solidarity; curb economic growth; fuel secessionist movements; and ferment civil war.

So, how do people come to identify with the nation, rather than their ethnicity?

Can power-sharing at national level change people's identities?

If so, what might lead to more inclusive politics? Why might elites come to share power with different ethnicities?

Dr. Elliott Green (Associate Professor at the LSE) discusses these questions. He draws on quantitative and qualitative analysis, from his British Journal of Political Science paper: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/84315/1/Ethnicity%2C%20national%20identity%20and%20the%20state_Final.pdf (ungated)

Why did people vote for Brexit?

Why didn't attitudes towards the EU change much over the campaign?

How can academics engage more effectively?

How can we rebuild a fairer, more inclusive Britain?

Professor Anand Menon discusses findings from his fascinating new book, co-authored with Geoffrey Evans.

You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brexit-British-Politics-Geoffrey-Evans-ebook/dp/B077CLZD88/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1512504173&sr=8-3&keywords=brexit+and+british+politics

Read the latest analysis from UK in a Changing Europe: http://ukandeu.ac.uk/