The First Tranche

Climate change, the environment, and oceans rank near the bottom of leaders’ priorities, according to global survey As global carbon emissions bounce back post-pandemic, a new AidData report finds climate action and environmental goals are among the least important issues for leaders. Alex Wooley

China rises sharply in influence among developing-country leaders, but does not yet surpass the US and G7 countries, according to new report A survey of nearly 7,000 leaders by AidData finds an increasingly contested development cooperation field. Alex Wooley

Amidst calls to decolonize aid, what issues do developing-country leaders prioritize and what do they say they want from partners? New report finds policy makers in the world’s poorer countries prioritize education, jobs, and strong institutions, and give high marks to donors that embrace locally-led development. Alex Wooley

New report on a global survey of leaders scores donors’ performance in an era of contested cooperation Multilaterals such as the IMF and World Bank perform highly; China rises in influence, but the US and other G7 donors hold their own. Alex Wooley

‍Using Facebook’s Social Connectedness Index to study social networks’ impact on the diffusion of agricultural technology in sub-Saharan Africa  AidData found that the use of improved seeds was higher in regions more socially connected to other regions that had previously adopted improved seeds. Rachel Sayers, Alex Wooley

Beyond saving lives, landmine removal in Afghanistan clears path to development, study finds AidData’s geospatial impact evaluation of a demining program in Afghanistan sheds light on the results of a decades-long effort to tackle the complicated and compelling problem of landmine removal. Soren Patterson, John Custer

Development that doesn’t deforest: Study points to path forward for local infrastructure projects A groundbreaking study of 40,000 local infrastructure projects in Cambodia finds the program by-and-large created economic gains while not hastening forest loss. Soren Patterson, John Custer

Is it possible for infrastructure not to hurt forests? A recently published study in JAERE finds that certain types of local infrastructure projects can improve rural livelihoods AND forest conditions, but important caveats apply. John Custer, Soren Patterson

New study shines a light on Beijing’s secretive international lending program An unprecedented cache of documents shows that Chinese loan contracts have unusual secrecy provisions, collateral requirements, and debt renegotiation restrictions. AidData

New insights into geospatial data at NYC Open Data Week 2021 How can innovative sources and applications of open geospatial data be used to empower insights at a global scale? Soren Patterson

Aid distributions to the most vulnerable remained equitable even after Nigeria crossed a key income threshold, study finds The country avoided one potential unintended consequence of a policy question that will affect nearly two dozen countries over the next decade. John Custer, Soren Patterson

Empowering global insights with geospatial data AidData’s new video series helps you get started with GeoQuery, our platform for creating customized geospatial datasets. Soren Patterson, Parker Kim