Identifying & Targeting Incentives
IRIS supports
reform leaders and donors using an approach — and
a set of analytic tools — that identifies
and targets the incentives underlying economic
and political activity.
Based on “new institutional economics,” IRIS’s
approach help our partners and clients better understand
the sources of underdevelopment and to chart the
paths to improvement.
IRIS activities in this area address fundamental
issues of development thinking and currently include:
-
Designing better development
indicators —IRIS
develops and applies new measures of development
outcomes, with a focus on the impact of institutions.
-
Understanding and strengthening fragile
states — IRIS’s “fragile
states framework” helps donors analyze
and address the causes of state fragility and
failure.
-
Improving the effectiveness
of foreign aid — IRIS
helps international donors and organizations,
such as the World Bank and USAID, address where and how aid
can be most usefully provided.
- Measuring and analyzing the
informal sector — IRIS
measures the size and scope of the informal economy,
a task that is key to addressing the institutional
obstacles to enterprise development.
Development Indicators
IRIS develops and applies new measures of development
outcomes, with a focus on the impact of institutions.
For example, IRIS has developed tools that measure
institutional development and health in the area
of governance. These include general measures or
indices, as well as specific indicators, such as
measures of corruption.
More
on
Development Indicators.
Fragile States
The IRIS Center’s fragile states framework helps
donors analyze and address the causes of state
fragility and failure. Both USAID and DIFD have
used the framework to develop strategies for addressing
this issue.
IRIS is now building on the implementation aspect
of the framework - focusing on addressing specific
issues that arise from state fragility or failure.
More
on Fragile States.
Aid Effectiveness
IRIS helps international donors
and organizations - such as the World Bank and
USAID - addresses where and how aid
can be most usefully provided.
Understanding how outsiders can best support development
is essential to improving the lives of the world’s
poorest citizens and ensuring peace and stability
for all.
More
on Aid Effectiveness.
Informal Sector
IRIS measures the size and scope of the informal
economy, a task that is key to addressing the institutional
obstacles to enterprise development.
Accurate measures of the informal economy help
governments to identify the environmental conditions
that force businesses to operate outside of the
formal system. With IRIS’s assistance, partners
and clients can develop a better understanding
of the informal sector, and thereby improve economic
management and policymaking efforts.
More
on the
Informal Sector.
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