Wealthy countries and international organizations have created a wide range of policy instruments to promote economic, political, social, and environmental reforms that they hope will improve economic growth and the quality of life in some of the world’s poorest countries. However, scholars and policymakers know very little about when any why these financial and non-financial incentives for reform are most -- and least -- effective. The Making Reform Incentives Work for Developing Countries project will equip the global policy community with the information needed to develop reform promotion tools that most effectively facilitate economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve living standards in some of the world’s poorest countries. By surveying thousands of public and private sector leaders in 120 developing countries, we will create and analyze a first-of-its-kind cross-national dataset on the influence and impact of various reform promotion tools, including performance-based aid programs, international organization accession procedures, and benchmarking exercises.

The Reform Incentives Project is generously supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the World Bank, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the College of William & Mary.

IN THE NEWS AND IN CONGRESS

Testimony of Daniel W. Yohannes,CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Before The House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Bush's Millennium Challenge is still changing the developing world

Contractors: good value for money or drain on aid resources?

The MCC Effect

The effects of the MCC Effect

Carrots All Round

Policymakers in developing countries say: “Try COD aid”

Does the 'MCC Effect' Exist?

Does the "MCC Effect" Exist? Results from the 2012 MCA Stakeholder Survey

Getting More Development Bang for Your Foreign Assistance Buck