Jessica Hagen-Zanker

Jessica specialises in the quantitative analysis of Social Protection, in particular social protection and migration, financing social protection and impact evaluation. Her work on financing includes a study on the affordability of social protection in the light of international spending commitments in five Sub-Saharan countries, as well as research on fiscal space for social protection. Jessica has also worked on a number of systematic reviews, including one for DFID about the benefits of work guarantee schemes compared with cash transfers and recently co-authored a briefing paper on making systematic reviews work for development. Jessica’s work on impact evaluation includes a project on the effectiveness and relevance of social protection in tackling social exclusion and promoting social inclusion in Asia, amongst others.

Jessica’s previous PhD work at Maastricht University focused on the analysis of causes and effects of migration on migrant-sending households in countries of origin, from a household perspective, with a particular focus on Albania and Moldova.

To request a copy of Jessica's CV, please email n.mathers@odi.org.uk

Outputs

How to do a rigorous, evidence-focused literature review in international development: a guidance note

Publication - Discussion papers - 18 September 2013

Jessica Hagen-Zanker and Richard Mallett

Building on previous reflections on the utility of systematic reviews in international development research, this paper describes an approach to carrying out a literature review that adheres to some of the core principles of ‘full’ systematic reviews, but that also contains space within the process for innovation and reflexivity.

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The affordability of social protection in the light of international spending commitments

Publication - Journal articles or issues - 12 August 2013

Development Policy Review Vol. 31, iss. 4

Jessica Hagen-Zanker, Anna McCord

In this article, Jessica Hagen Zanker and Anna McCord analyse social protection affordability by comparing target spending levels with actual government expenditure in five African countries. They find that meeting any of the sectoral targets in full would require either sectoral trade-offs, or significant increases in donor or government expenditure.

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What do we know about the impact of social protection programmes on the decision to migrate?

Publication - Journal articles or issues - 15 May 2013

Migration and Development

Jessica Hagen-Zanker and Carmen Leon Himmelstine

This literature review synthesises the current empirical evidence on how access to social protection in low-income and middle-income countries influences decisions to migrate internally or internationally.

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What is the evidence on the impact of employment creation on stability and poverty reduction in fragile states

Publication - Research reports and studies - 10 May 2013

Rebecca Holmes, Anna McCord and Jessica Hagen-Zanker with Gina Bergh and Franzisca Zanker

This systematic review identifies and synthesizes the current literature on the evidence of the impacts of employment creation on stability and poverty in fragile states.

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Woman in front of a tank, southern Sudan

Assessment of the evidence of links between gender equality, statebuillding and peacebuilding

Projects - February 2013 to October 2013

This project will assess the evidence of links between gender equality, statebuillding and peacebuilding drawing previous research into this area together to provide a baseline against which to move forward both in policy and research. It will also develop a policy approach and theory of change for the inclusion of gender within peacebuilding statebuilding. This work will inform DFID’s longer-term, more detailed research on this area as well as provide the analytical basis for current policy development and immediate programming.

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