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Political Economy Research Institute

Capital Flight from Resource-Rich Africa

Léonce Ndikumana

The unrecorded transfer of money—i.e. “capital flight”—is a global economic problem. PERI researcher Léonce Ndikumana and co-authors focus on the experiences of Cameroon, Ghana, and Zambia to explain how capital flight contributes to broader illicit financial flows. Deal-makers help private actors embezzle funds, evade taxation and exchange controls, and create shell corporations to disguise funds. The financial hemorrhage through capital flight creates major obstacles for African countries to achieve their development goals and even finance basic services. Ndikumana advances a workable program for controlling capital flight, in Africa and more broadly.

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Advancing a Green Transition in Michigan

Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Shouvik Chakraborty and Chirag Lala

The State of Michigan is committed to building a net zero emissions economy by 2050. PERI researchers Robert Pollin, Jeanette Wicks-Lim, Shouvik Chakraborty and Chirag Lala estimate that the state needs to invest about 2 percent of GDP every year until 2050 to build a clean energy infrastructure to supplant Michigan’s existing fossil fuel-dominant infrastructure. The clean energy investments will generate between 85,000 – 100,000 jobs, while about 350 fossil fuel workers per year will become unemployed. These fossil fuel sector workers need transitional support, including pension, employment, and income guarantees, along with retraining and relocation programs.

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Michigan report

Improving Child Health Outcomes Through Aid-Based Sanitation Investments

Lynda Pickbourn, Raymond Caraher and Léonce Ndikumana

Providing aid to the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector (WASH aid) in developing countries should generate a range of positive health impacts. PERI researchers Lynda Pickbourn and Léonce Ndikumana, along with Raymond Caraher, consider the impact of WASH aid on child health outcomes in Uganda. This paper combines data on the location of WASH aid projects with household survey data to examine the impact of WASH aid on the incidence of child stunting in Uganda. They find that proximity to WASH projects is associated with a 14–21% lower probability of stunting.

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Making Care Work

Nancy Folbre

PERI researcher Nancy Folbre explains in this book-length study how conventional economic accounting—including the GDP accounts—does not properly measure the value of caring for ourselves and others, especially children, the elderly and those experiencing illness or disability. Folbre reviews the long history of resistance to bogus claims that only paid work "counts" and that employees in care services are always paid what they deserve. Explaining why care providers remain economically vulnerable today, Folbre argues that more attention to the public benefits of care provision could help build the political coalitions needed to implement policies that put people first.

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