Our Key Research Areas

Economic growth

MILE’s research in this area assesses how policymaking and economic institutions help or hinder efforts to ensure that Malawi’s economy is operating at full length and to generate sustainable growth in average living standards as rapidly as possible.

Education

MILE’s research in this area assesses the impacts of social and economic inequality on student’s achievement, and suggests policies, both within and outside school to narrow outcome gaps between middle class and disadvantaged students.

Inequality and Poverty

MILE’s research in this area examines the increasing levels of economic inequality in connection with decreasing levels of economic mobility and rising levels of poverty.

Jobs and Unemployment

MILE’s research in this area focuses on understanding the complexities and impact of the slow recovery in the labor market, including our stubborn high unemployment, mass underemployment, and weak labor force participation in Malawi.

Politics & Public Opinion

MILE’s research in this area assesses what Malawians think about important public policy issues, the values and assumptions that motivate their beliefs, and how their opinion changes and evolves.

Budget, Tax and Public Investment

MILE’s research in this area examine the role that public investment, regulation and tax policy play in economic growth, sustainability and equitability, and the dangers of the rising national debts.