Governance is central to improving health sector performance and achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). However, the growing body of research on governance and health has not yet led to a global consensus on the need for more investment in governance interventions to improve health. This paper aims to summarise the latest evidence on the influence of governance on health, examines how we ca...

The dramatic social and demographic changes that have occurred in developed nations over the past several decades have lead to significant changes in the circumstances in which families are raising young children, and in the conditions that young children experience as they group up. In parallel with these social and demographic changes, there is evidence of worsening health and developmental o...

The research described in this report was supported by a grant from The California Wellness Foundation. RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of its research sponsors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electron...

A t the beginning of kindergarten, the math and reading achievement gaps between children in the bottom and top income quintiles amount to more than a full standard deviation. Early childhood education programs provide child care services and may facilitate the labor market careers of parents, but their greatest potential value is as a human capital investment in young children, particularly ch...

A principal can make an investment anticipating a repeated relationship with an agent, but the agent may appropriate the returns through ex post bargaining. I study how this holdup problem and efficiency depend on the contracting environment. When investment returns are observable, informal contracts ex post can be more efficient than formal contracts, as they induce higher investment ex ante: ...