Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity

Road Safety Breakthrough | Radelet Testimony | Poverty Reduction Redefined

May 5, 2009


	CGD Development Update \| April 28, 2009

FEATURES

Heckle and Chide: Results of a Randomized Road Safety Intervention in Kenya

Traffic accidents in the developing world kill as many people each year as malaria and cause twice as many deaths as war and other violence combined. James Habyarimana and William Jack tried a novel approach to reduce this deadly toll in an experiment in Kenya. They posted signs in a random sample of 1,000 minibuses encouraging passengers to speak up and criticize reckless driving. The result: insurance claims for the sample fell by as much as two-thirds, and claims involving injury or death fell by one-half.

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Radelet Testifies on U.S. Assistance to Africa and Calls for Reform

Better U.S. assistance to Africa requires broad foreign assistance reform, CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet said in congressional testimony last week. Meanwhile, Rep. Howard Berman promised to introduce legislation soon for a comprehensive U.S. development strategy, and the GAO released a new report pushing for such reform. CGD's Sarah Jane Staats finds plenty of toe tapping but at least one step forward in the U.S. aid reform dance.

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What Is Poverty Reduction?

In this new CGD working paper, Owen Barder raises fundamental questions about the purpose of aid transfers. For many donors the purpose is "poverty reduction" in the narrow sense of growth that reduces poverty. Barder argues that such a focus ignores key trade-offs, such as between reducing current and future poverty and between addressing the causes and symptoms of poverty, and results in less effective aid. This is an important paper for practitioners as well as students of how the aid system works.

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NEW FROM CGD

Recent blog posts

Recent Views from the Center Blog Posts

CGD's Steve Radelet Testifies on U.S. Assistance to Africa and Calls for Reform 04/27/2009
The IMF's New Face 04/24/2009
Continuing Efforts to Make Trade Work for Development 04/22/2009

Recent Global Health Policy Blog Posts

Recent MCA Monitor Blog Posts

MCC Compact Implementation in Madagascar Put on Hold 03/23/2009
First Meeting of the New MCC Board: More Orientation than Decision-Making 03/20/2009
New MCC Board Meets for First Time March 11 03/9/2009

David Roodman's Microfinance Open Book Blog

Are Moneylenders Getting Too Much Credit for Farmer Suicides? 04/28/2009
The IFMR Trust: Not Your Parents' Microfinance 04/27/2009
Roodman's Law of Instrumental Value 04/14/2009

Bretton Woods Non-Commission

The Archbishop, the Sultan, and President Obama (Washington Post Blog) 04/24/2009
IMF Eases Limits on Loans (Washington Times) 04/24/2009
Report: U.S. Foreign Aid Needs Overhaul (USA Today) 04/23/2009
Forgotten Sibling (Economist) 04/23/2009
A Grassroots Alternative to Carbon Offsets (Huffington Post) 04/22/2009

MEET CGD EXPERT

Sarah Jane Staats

Deputy Director for Outreach and Policy

Sarah Jane Staats is responsible for engaging members of the U.S. development policy community, especially senior staff in Congress and counterparts in development advocacy NGOs, to share CGD research and policy analysis to maximize policy impact. She coordinated CGD's efforts to promote greater understanding and awareness of global development in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections.

Selected Works

Blogs

Read Sarah Jane Staats's Views from the Center Author Archives here.

About CGD

CGD is an independent think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community.

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About this Newsletter

The CGD Development Update is a weekly e-letter that provides information about rich country development policies, CGD events, initiatives, publications, and media citations