|
on Community banking and credit unions |
| By: | Nimundele Masur Matar, Martin |
| Abstract: | The digital revolution is a major driver of rural development in the DRC. In Mabenga, it can improve public administration, education and agriculture. The study identifies three priorities: expanding digital infrastructure, strengthening local skills and promoting inclusive digital governance adapted to rural realities, local needs and sustainable development. |
| Keywords: | Digital Revolution, Rural development, Digital inclusion |
| JEL: | O18 O33 R58 |
| Date: | 2026–04–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:131145 |
| By: | Baghdadi, Leila; Gatti, Roberta V.; Islam, Asif M.; Sieverding, Maia |
| Abstract: | Women’s agency — their ability to define and act on their goals — is often the target of policies and programs, both as a means of reducing other gender inequities and as an end in and of itself. Measuring agency is complex, and variation in how the concept is operationalized contributes to difficulty in synthesizing evidence on the topic. At the same time, standard measures that are used in large-scale survey programs are often treated as universal and compared across widely differing settings. This paper investigates the extent to which a single scale for women’s agency can be used across contexts. The study replicates and builds on a recent study in India that used qualitative data and machine learning techniques to develop a five-question measure of women’s agency. This paper applies a variety of machine learning and, in a new contribution, generative artificial intelligence techniques and data from qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative surveys from the same sample of women in Tunisia to identify what questions best measure overall agency. The main finding is that context matters. Overlap between the questions that performed well in India and in Tunisia is minimal. The best agency questions selected by machine learning in one context (for example, a rural area) do not perform well in other contexts (for example, an urban area). Researchers may need to generate and use context-specific agency measures to measure agency accurately. Although machine learning approaches perform well against a benchmark qualitative agency score, generative artificial intelligence approaches do not. Current, readily available generative artificial intelligence tools do not appear to have the capabilities needed to make this exercise more effective or less time-consuming. |
| Date: | 2026–09–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11464 |
| By: | Ahmed, Hardi; de Walque, Damien B. C. M.; Lopez, Carolina |
| Abstract: | The generational evolution of gender gaps in education in Sub-Saharan Africa remains poorly documented at the regional scale. This paper uses micro data from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from 35 countries (approximately 736, 000 individuals), complemented by international educational assessment and monitoring program (managed by the Conference of Ministers of Education of French-Speaking Countries) test scores for 14 francophone countries. The paper traces gender differences in educational attainment and learning by birth cohort. The findings show that attainment gaps narrow sharply across cohorts: the female disadvantage falls from 13–15 percentage points in primary and secondary attendance and 1.9 years of schooling among those born in the 1970s to far smaller values among the most recent cohorts, and it is statistically insignificant across most of the youngest birth cohorts. Among those born after 1999, females exceed males in secondary attendance and years of education in a majority of countries. However, convergence is uneven. It partly reflects stagnation in boys’ secondary attendance rather than female gains; learning gaps show no uniform direction across countries and often run counter to attainment; and wider attainment gaps persist among rural, poorer, and Muslim populations. |
| Date: | 2026–09–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11455 |
| By: | Grillitsch, Markus (CIRCLE, Lund University); Pugh, Rhiannon (CIRCLE, Lund University); Miedzinski, Michal (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission); Sasso, Simone (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) |
| Abstract: | Rural regions encompass a wide variety of contexts, often facing challenges such as population decline and ageing, or limited infrastructure and services. Yet, rural territories can also be unique places for experimentation and serve as sites of transformative, sustainability-oriented development. We contribute with the development of a theoretical perspective on rural transition pathways that connects rural pre-conditions across industrial, social, and ecological dimensions with distinct varieties of innovation—technological, community-based, and nature-based—and with system effects achieved through two key elements: change agency and rescaling. We identify four archetypes of transition pathways in rural areas: rescaling a rural niche, transforming an existing industry, a community-based pathway, and a nature-based pathway, and provide an empirical illustration for each. The archetypes capture variations of possible transition pathways grounded in theoretical differences in the processes leading to system change. As such, the archetypes are propositions regarding why and how sustainable and inclusive system change can occur in rural regions. |
| Keywords: | rural development; science and technology innovation; transition pathways; agency; rescaling; place-based policy; foundation economy; nature-based innovation; bioeconomy |
| JEL: | O18 Q01 R11 |
| Date: | 2026–09–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2025_014 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This working paper explores the underlying reasons for shifts in the gold landscape and the possibility that these developments could signal deeper ongoing transformations in the global economy, with broader implications across economic sectors and financial markets. This paper provides an overview of these signals and emerging trends and identifies four futures of gold scenarios for global markets and payment systems, illicit financial flows, geofinance, economic and sustainable development, critical mineral supply chains and responsible business conduct. |
| Date: | 2026–10–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dafaad:51-en |
| By: | Roberts, Jonathan; Krige, Kerryn; Le Grand, Julian |
| Abstract: | There has been long-standing interest among UK policymakers in improving the resilience and stability of social ventures by encouraging a move away from state and philanthropic grants towards earned income models and a commercial mindset. A recent development has been a set of ‘enterprise grants’ that explicitly seek to support the commercial development of social organisations. This report presents findings from a qualitative study that explored the Match Trading programme, an innovative enterprise grant mechanism designed to enable community businesses and social enterprises to strengthen their commercial capacity and financial sustainability. |
| JEL: | R14 J01 F3 G3 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:141154 |