Economic Development

  • Rwanda’s Clean Cooking Challenge: Can Community Action Make the Difference?

    Rwanda’s Clean Cooking Challenge: Can Community Action Make the Difference?

    Asteria’s hands tremble as she strikes a match, the small flame flickering before catching onto the lump of charcoal. Her youngest daughter, Keza, stands nearby, rubbing her eyes and coughing as the smoke curls toward the low roof of their kitchen. Asteria has been cooking this way for as long…

  • What the U.S. Can Learn from the Success of China’s Special Economic Zones

    What the U.S. Can Learn from the Success of China’s Special Economic Zones

    Developed countries are struggling to tackle growing geographic inequality, a phenomenon fueling populism and discontent at the polls in Europe and the United States. In the face of economic change, large, globally connected cities have thrived, while many former industrial hubs have shrunk. Governments are now looking for ways to…

  • Tech: The Goal, or Just Another Path to Growth?

    Tech: The Goal, or Just Another Path to Growth?

    In 2012, the average resident of San Francisco supported about $76,000 in gross domestic —about $19,000 more than the average in Chicago. That gap has widened to more than $29,000 today. San Francisco’s economy is growing nearly three times faster on a per capita basis than Chicago’s. Meanwhile, San Jose…

  • Projecting the Economic Implications of Carbon Pricing in China

    Projecting the Economic Implications of Carbon Pricing in China

    As one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters, China has recently been increasing its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which is the largest contributor to climate change. One of China’s goals, as set in last year’s Paris Agreement, was to cut emissions by 60 to 65 percent per unit…

  • A Collaborative Approach to Urban Economic Development

    A Collaborative Approach to Urban Economic Development

    After decades of declining economic conditions and a mass population exodus from its urban center, St. Louis responded by forming a regional economic development system. Developed in early 2016, InveSTL is a unique collaboration among local community development organizations that aims to provide a coordinated, regional approach to fostering economic…

  • Technology as an Urban Solution to Economic Decline

    Technology as an Urban Solution to Economic Decline

    Research shows that US cities recover more quickly from economic crises when they possess a workforce with a technologically diverse knowledge base that can be readily applied to related areas.

  • Entrepreneurship: The Modern Day Crime-Stopper

    Entrepreneurship: The Modern Day Crime-Stopper

    A study finds that the growth of African-American-owned businesses in urban communities plays a role in decreasing the rate of youth violent crime.

  • Creating Jobs to End War

    Creating Jobs to End War

    An experiment in Liberia offers new insights on how to deal with ex-combatants after war.

  • Are Gayborhoods Driving Economic Growth in US Cities?

    Are Gayborhoods Driving Economic Growth in US Cities?

    A study finds that US cities with significant concentrations of gay men have seen more rapid economic development of their downtown neighborhoods in recent years.

  • Talking Peruvian Development with Miguel Castilla, Peru’s Former Minister of Economy and Finance

    Talking Peruvian Development with Miguel Castilla, Peru’s Former Minister of Economy and Finance

    Considering Peruvian aggregate figures, we can see high GDP growth rates and exports, as well as significant poverty reduction during the last 15 years. However, regions such as Huancavelica, Ayacucho, and Cajamarca, to mention a few, are not performing well at all. They still have very high poverty rates, between…

  • A city with soul: Director of Finance Brian Collins addresses the future of Memphis

    A city with soul: Director of Finance Brian Collins addresses the future of Memphis

    Brian Collins, Director of Finance for the City of Memphis, talks about his city’s determination in the face of financial and socio-economic adversity.