About Us
The Governance and Local Development Institute (GLD) is a research program based at the University of Gothenburg, originally founded in 2013 at Yale University by Professor Ellen Lust. GLD focuses on the local factors driving governance and development. The institute is dedicated to international collaboration and scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant research in an effort to promote human welfare globally. Findings are made available to the international and domestic communities through academic publications, policy briefs, public presentations, social media, and on-the-ground workshops in cooperation with local partners.
Our Mission
“We aim to promote human welfare by conducting scientifically rigorous research across the globe. Our research focuses on answering a fundamental question: why are some communities able to provide secure environments, good education, adequate healthcare, and other factors that encourage human development, while others fail to do so? We engage with communities across the world, develop methodological tools, gather data, undertake analyses on major issues affecting societies today, and disseminate findings to academics, relevant policy-makers, and the communities in which we work.”
Meet the Fellows!
Tanu Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Politics and Economics at Claremont Graduate University and a faculty affiliate at the Center for Effective Global Action. She completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley in May 2020. Tanu studies the behaviour of citizens and bureaucrats in everyday politics at the local level, and her regional expertise is in urban India
Governance Uncovered
Our monthly podcast invites scholars and professionals worldwide to discuss issues related to governance and local development with host Ellen Lust.
Governance Uncovered is supported by the Swedish Research Council.
Latest Working Papers
The GLD working paper series is also available in our SSRN eJournal: University of Gothenburg Governance & Local Development Institute Research Paper Series.
View and subscribe to GLD's eJournal here!
Brazilian Subnational Pandemic and Everyday Health Politics
Despite historical experience and health state capacity, Brazil struggled to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas past administrations have proactively mobilized resources to combat epidemics, Bolsonaro’s [...]
Explaining Ethno-Regional Favouritism in Sub-Saharan Africa
A burgeoning literature on ethno-regional favouritism in Sub-Saharan Africa has largely found that Presidents favour their co-ethnic kin in the provision of public and private goods. However, this literature [...]
Politics in the Urban Periphery: Citizen-Led Expansion and Informality at the Edges of India's Cities
Why are some privately developed neighbourhoods on the outskirts of India’s cities incorporated into municipal governance while others are not? And what are the [...]
Do Voters Prefer Relief over Preparedness? Evidence from Malawi
Growing evidence suggests that voters reward politicians for spending on disaster relief but not disaster preparedness. Yet, we know little about the mechanisms that underpin this pattern. I propose that voters value [...]
Country Reports
LGPI Tunisia: Selected Findings on Health
Tunisia has a very good health-care system compared to most of the Arab world. The healthcare system includes primary-care clinics and health centers, which deal with nearly 60 percent of public-sector medical outpatients, reproductive-health visits, schools, and student-health visits [...]
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LGPI Malawi: Selected Findings on Gender
Malawi’s context raises a number of challenges that the government, traditional leaders, civil society, and the development community are working to address. One area of particular focus is gender equality and women’s empowerment. The LGPI supports this effort by providing [...]
