The World Bank discovers power in the power sector - Policy Brief 14
The World Bank’s 2019 report on Rethinking Power Sector Reform recognises that many of the key challenges in power sector reform result from the political economy of the sector.
Barnett and McCulloch state that the report is weak in four areas:
- On corruption – which it treats as a local problem rather than as a systemic issue linked to countries’ political settlement;
- On the political economy of donors – and how this can sometimes make reform more difficult;
- On the impact of new technology – and how disruptive technologies can change local political incentives;
- On how to Think and Work Politically in the power sector – the report gives little guidance on how to move beyond the focus on supply-side reforms.
This Policy Brief makes recommendation to the World Bank and other development partners on how these could be tackled.
Political Economy Analysis training for the Climate Compatible Growth programme
TPP Director Neil McCulloch, and Principals Sam Bickersteth and Samantha Wade delivered a two-day training course for the Climate Compatible Growth programme at Homerton College in Cambridge in late March.
The bespoke learning event was designed for CCG researchers to gain a better understanding of PEA and how it might help participants to identify the challenges arising from political economy features of the contexts in which they work, and to draw well-grounded conclusions for research, policy, strategy or programme design and implementation.
Webinar on Neil McCulloch's new book - "Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planet"
Neil McCulloch has kindly agreed to give a presentation of the main ideas in his new book "Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planet" on Wednesday 12 April from 2pm-3.30pm BST (GMT+1). Dr. Mashekwa Maboshe, a researcher at the University of Zambia, has kindly agreed to provide some initial short comments, after which the floor will be open for questions and discussion. Please register by clicking below and we will send you the zoom invite.
New FCDO Political Economy Analysis Guidance published
Laure-Hélène Piron and Alina Rocha Menocal contributed to this Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) guide on applied political economy analysis (PEA) which updates the UK Department for International Development's 2009 original guidance.
This guide provides an overview of PEA and explains how analytical work should be planned and completed. It also provides an introduction to techniques and concepts used by FCDO governance experts, when designing and implementing related UK aid programming. It aims to inform development professionals, and it summarises different approaches, from very light-touch to more in-depth.