Identifying and evaluating large scale policy interventions : what questions can we answer ?

Using a data-driven empirical case study method, the paper evaluates the impact of one identified reform program on development outcomes. The paper uses the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment Ratings to identify large scale structural and macro-level policy interventions in the last decade that were seen as being sustained and successful for IDA countries. Robustness checks are performed to show the efficacy of the method in particular cases. It was found that the method attains robustness in the case of Nigeria.Economic Theory&Research,Governance Indicators,Achieving Shared Growth,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis

Revisiting Nepal's year of elections: less success than meets the eye?

While Nepal's elections were widely hailed as a major success, it would be a mistake to ignore many underlying issues that question the integrity and effectiveness of the recent elections, writes Nimesh Dhungana

Economic potential of forest resources of Nepal

Nepal's forest resources underpin the livelihoods of rural people in important ways. During the country's 'planned development' over the past 50 years, the government, donors and policy makers have viewed these resources as a key vehicle for ushering in economic growth and for meeting basic needs. They underscore the potential value of forest resources for achieving conservation and socio-economic objectives. To what extent have economic incentives been generated to effectively harness these resources to meet the said objectives is an open question. To address this question, this paper reviews briefly and broadly the economic potential of the country's forest resources in terms of forest goods and services. Estimates of economic potential of timber and non-timber forest products and environmental services have been assessed. A number of recommendations for realizing the potential for achieving development and poverty reduction objectives is provided

Mitigating Risks of Ochratoxin A Contamination in Oats

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic metabolite produced by several species of fungal genera Penicillium and Aspergillus. The major OTA producer in temperate regions (i.e. U.S., Canada, Europe) is Penicillium verrucosum. Oat (Avena sativa), like any other cereal grain, can be contaminated with OTA when storage conditions are favorable for fungal growth. The presence of OTA exceeding the European Union maximum limit of 3 ppb in processed food has been reported in some samples of oat-based breakfast cereals from the US. The use of oat genotypes with limited OTA accumulation would be an effective way to reduce risks of OTA contamination in oat based products. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine the frequently of P. verrucosum in oat grain produced in South Dakota, and 2) develop a methodology to screen oat genotypes for OTA accumulation. Grain samples from twelve oat cultivars grown at five locations in South Dakota from 2014 to 2016 were analyzed for the presence of P. verrucosum by direct plating on Dichloran Yeast Extract Glycerol Agar (DYSG) medium. Twenty-three out of the 360 samples (6.3%) evaluated had a very low percentage (0-16%) of kernels with P. verrucosum contamination. Three experiments with oat grain inoculated with P. verrucosum were carried out to study the effect of water activity, temperature, isolates of P. verrucosum, genotypes and time after incubation on OTA production. All these factors except genotype were found to have significant effects on OTA production by P. verrucosum in oats. A water activity of 0.90, temperature of 22.5°C, and P. verrucosum isolate C1136-1 were found to be highly favorable for OTA production in grain and could be used to assess varietal differences in grain OTA accumulation

Changing PHD research in response to COVID19: key considerations

Changing course as a PhD student is hardly uncommon. However, during a crisis, the temptation to respond intellectually combined with the external limitations imposed on pre-existing research plans makes this pull even greater. In this post, Nimesh Dhungana outlines his own experience of changing PhD topic in response to a crisis and gives advice for ... Continue

Gendering labor: How foreign direct investment affects state behavior towards female labor in South and Southeast Asia

This study examines the partnership between foreign capital (FDI) and state in manipulating women\u27s labor. In this dissertation I have two research questions: My first research question is to determine whether the interaction between states and FDI renders workers vulnerable and unprotected. Other scholars have shown that states have been willing to relax labor laws (and offer non labor-related incentives) in order to attract FDI. My hypothesis is that cultural patriarchy intensifies this relationship between states and FDI, and further weakens the labor laws. My second research question is to identify the causal factors that bring about change in the relationship between states and FDI, and minimize the influence of historical patriarchy. My hypothesis is that, in certain environments, cultural patriarchy has been mitigated by the rise of women\u27s civic engagement. I show that grassroots movements and increased civic participation among women leads to states adopting labor laws that will specifically protect all women workers, especially the most vulnerable ones located in FDI industries. Feminist Methodology approach and gender analysis is utilized to examine the labor policies pertaining to women as workers in the global production. The key to my employment of a feminist approach is to challenge the predominant androcentric views and ways that are perpetuated by the global production

2015 Nepal Earthquake and COVID-19: a comparison of the politics of crisis governance

As Nepal marks the fifth anniversary of the devasting 2015 earthquake, the global crisis triggered by COVID-19 should be remembered not just as a moment of suffering. Here (Nimesh Dhungana, LSE) argues how the earthquake prompted many forms of citizen-centric politics of governance – forms we can witness in the immediate response to the global pandemic

Study of Structural, Magnetic and Magnetocaloric Properties of (1-x) La0.7Ca0.3MnO3-xMO (M = Ni, Cu, Co) Nanocomposites.

Manganites have shown potential application as magnetic refrigerants due to the exhibition of near room temperature magnetocaloric effect. High relative cooling power (RCP) values and the easy tunability of magnetic phase transition temperature (Tc), magnetic entropy change (?Sm), and RCP opens up a lot of possibilities for exploring better magnetocaloric materials. Reported literature shows doped manganites and composites with significant improvement in magnetocaloric properties. In this work, we have synthesized (1-x) La0.7Ca0.3MnO3-xMO (x = 2.5%, 5%; M = Ni, Cu, Co), magnetite-metal oxide nanocomposites using a simple autocombustion method. The structural and magnetic measurements have been made to explore the purity and the magnetocaloric properties of the sample. The x-ray diffraction data (XRD) of all the samples show the presence of a pure LCMO phase. The presence of metal oxides is further confirmed by energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The field Cooled magnetization curve shows that the material undergoes second-order PM-FM transition as we decrease the temperature. The obtained phase transition temperature (Tc) drops with the increasing content of metal oxides. The highest drop of Tc is observed from 258 K in pure LCMO to 166.6 K in LCMO-5%CoO. Isothermal magnetization curves for the composites also show PM-FM phase transition with the change in nature of the curve. The maximum magnetic entropy change (?Smax) is observed around Tc for all the samples, and it increases with the increase in the applied field. The largest drop in?Smax is observed from 8.77 JKg-1K-1 in pure LCMO to 3.24 JKg-1K-1 in LCMO-5%NiO. The most important parameter in quantifying the magnetocaloric behavior of the sample, RCP, is calculated, and it is found to increase linearly with the externally applied field. The RCP values increase with the increase in metal oxide content despite the decrease in?Smax. The highest value for RCP obtained is 266.89 JKg-1 in LCMO-5%CuO, which is a 23.4% gain from 213.13 JKg-1 for pure LCMO. The increase in RCP values with the increase in metal oxide content signifies that we were able to tune and improve the magnetocaloric behavior of LCMO by composite formation