VoxDev Development Economics
Episodes
S2 Ep8: Rural roads, agricultural extension, and productivity
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Ethiopia, one development program is building roads to remote villages, while another tries to make small farms more productive. Mesay Gebresilasse...
S2 Ep7: Corruption and firms in Brazil
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In May 2003 the Brazilian government launched an anti-corruption program that exposed and suspended corrupt public officials. Emanuele Colonnelli tell...
S2 Ep6: Building trust in Pakistan's court system
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When courts lack credibility, non-state actors may step in – and the less that we engage with state institutions, the weaker they become. How do we ...
S2 Ep5: Supporting learning out of school
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In developing countries, more than 90% of children go to primary school. How can we best support their learning? An experiment in India targeted both ...
S2 Ep4: Disaster relief in Mexico
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Mexican government attempted to reduce the effect of extreme weather on people’s lives by establishing FONDEN, a fund to finance recovery and re...
S2 Ep3: The legacy of autocracy in China
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When state repression does its job, does it make us less charitable and less likely to speak our minds afterwards – and, if so, how long does that e...
S2 Ep2: The gender pay gap in India's markets
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In almost every job, in high and low-income countries, women earn less than men. Solène Delecourt tells Tim Phillips about a series of experiments th...
S2 Ep1: Are there too many farms in the world?
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Low-income countries have many small farms, and high-income countries have far fewer large farms and much higher agricultural productivity. Tim Philli...
S1 Ep70: India's school assessments fail the reliability test
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In India, tests intended to evaluate overall student achievement, soon to be rolled out nationally, suffer from massive grade inflation - even though ...
S1 Ep69: Stay or migrate?
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A structural transformation means workers moving to cities for good jobs, or better living conditions for their families, maybe also having smaller fa...
S1 Ep68: Do marketers matter for entrepreneurs?
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Entrepreneurs in developing countries need access to finance, education, and better institutions. But do they need more marketing? Stephen J Anderson ...
S1 Ep67: The search for good jobs
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are 420 million young people in Africa today, but 140 million are unemployed, and another 130 million are underemployed or in working poverty. W...
S1 Ep66: Information operations and civilian cooperation
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In many conflict situations, should winning hearts and minds be the priority? Information operations are an essential part of military strategy, but s...
S1 Ep65: A low-cost way to raise tax revenues in Uganda
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Policy to increase tax compliance in developing countries often focuses on enforcement, and that's difficult, unpopular, and costly. Are there other w...
S1 Ep64: Caste and occupation in India
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
India's caste system traditionally determined which occupation families chose. In modern India, does caste still influence someone's choice of job? Da...
S1 Ep63: Controlling Indonesia's forest fires
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Satellite data from Indonesia shows the damage that out-of-control illegal forest fires, set by farmers to clear their land, do to other people's prop...
S1 Ep62: Buying votes
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Politicians can bribe their way to an election win, but in a democracy we throw them out if they perform badly afterwards. Or maybe not: Jessica Leigh...
S1 Ep61: Incentivising Africa's businesses to pay taxes
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Low-income countries struggle to collect tax, hurting economic stability, raising debt levels, cutting growth, and gutting basic services. Abebe Shime...
S1 Ep60: The value of India's rural roads
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Big infrastructure projects are often dismissed as expensive and problematic. But Yogita Shamdasani tells Tim Phillips how a national roadbuilding pro...
S1 Ep59: Rewarding voters in Ghana
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Will a government target spending in places where it thinks it can pick up support in the next election, or target funding to regions that supported i...
S1 Ep58: Families as social institutions
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When economists talk about the "household", they usually mean a family. But Natalie Bau and Raquel Fernandez tell Tim Phillips that there are many typ...
S1 Ep57: Education technology: Ready for prime time?
20 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For half a century Mexico's rural middle-schoolers have attended "telesecundaria" schools, in which they watch their lessons on TV. It saves money and...
S1 Ep55: Learning from our urban past
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cities in developing economies can still learn a lot from our urban past, Ed Glaeser tells Tim Phillips. For thousands of years ancient cities have be...
S1 Ep56: Hidden unemployment in India
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In rural areas, about half of people who are available for work are not in full-time employment. Most are self-employed. Are they really entrepreneurs...
S1 Ep54: Is financial literacy necessary?
13 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We often try to improve incomes and financial decision-making of working people by teaching financial literacy. But in Uganda an intervention tested w...
S1 Ep53: Slippery fish
10 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When the government in Chile attempts to limit which fish can be caught and sold to protect stocks, market traders always find a way around the restri...
S1 Ep52: Using role models in Somali schools
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How can Somalia's schools inspire kids to finish their education and learn about gender equality? A low-cost intervention uses role models with surpri...
S1 Ep51: The effects of crime on jobs in Mexico
06 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When drug-related violence exploded in Mexico, its effects were felt by everyone. Andrea Velásquez tells Tim Phillips how rising violence in Mexico C...
S1 Ep50: Reshaping gender attitudes in India
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Children decide what's normal for girls and boys early in their development. Seema Jayachandran tells Tim Phillips how a program of discussions about ...
S1 Ep49: Letting managers manage
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to succeed as a boss, business books tell you, you have to delegate. But we know less than you think about the impact of delegation on pro...
S1 Ep48: The false promises of agricultural trials
30 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Often we hear exciting news of crop yields from experimental trials, but then the gains don't show up in the real world. Rachid Laajaj tells Tim Phill...
S1 Ep47: Public disclosure as a political incentive: Evidence from municipal elections in India
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Councilors who thought performance reports would be published before an election invested more in infrastructure, with positive impacts on re-election...
S1 Ep47: The unintended impacts of formal credit programmes on social networks: Evidence from India
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The introduction of financial institutions in communities may generate long-lasting externalities, including losses in informal social linkages Read “...
S1 Ep47: Learning-by-doing: Navigating financial technologies among Bangladeshi factory workers
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How automatic payments can help individuals save more and better protect themselves against consumer risks Read “Learning to navigate a new financia...
S1 Ep47: Is faster always better? Evidence from Mexico’s digital credit market
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Access to fast cash through digital credit may put consumers at risk for over-indebtedness and likelihood of default Read “Too fast, too furious? Di...
S1 Ep46: Designing more effective interventions to prevent childhood stunting: Evidence from Nigeria
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bundling interventions that offer parents health information along with cash transfers might yield more sustainable changes in early-life health outco...
S1 Ep47: Designing more effective interventions to prevent childhood stunting: Evidence from Nigeria
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bundling interventions that offer parents health information along with cash transfers might yield more sustainable changes in early-life health outco...
S1 Ep46: Urban-rural gaps in the developing world: Does internal migration offer opportunities?
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Policymakers might seek to address the frictions that prevent potentially beneficial migration to urban areas from taking place Read “Urban-Rural Ga...
S1 Ep46: Unintended consequences: How workfare programmes may fuel school dropouts in India
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Despite evidence of increasing household wages, anti-poverty schemes in India can have an adverse effect by lowering human capital investment Read “...
S1 Ep46: How does shame and embarrassment impact social learning? Evidence from India
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People are less likely to ask questions in their communities if it exposes the limits of their knowledge. Read “Signaling, shame, and silence in soc...
S1 Ep46: Failure of frequent assessment: Evidence from India’s continuous and comprehensive evaluation programme
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
More frequent assessment of student performance fails to deliver on improved outcomes when the administrative burden on teachers is high
S1 Ep45: Should electricity be a right? Evidence from India
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly a billion people around the world are not connected to the electricity grid, and even more have unreliable access. In this VoxDevTalk, Robin Bu...
S1 Ep45: Technology as a tool for governance: Evidence from China
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Incentivising agent performance is a double-edged sword: while it can encourage agents to perform better, it might also nudge them into cheating and m...
S1 Ep45: How does funding influence sectoral and geographic spread of NGOs?
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Certain kinds of NGO-led development projects attract more funding and media attention than others. Child sponsorship or microcredit schemes, for inst...
S1 Ep45: Gender norms, rule of law, and female entrepreneurship in developing countries
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Entrepreneurship across the world is highly male dominated. While the amount of subsistence entrepreneurship in developing countries leads to a slight...
S1 Ep45: The selection of talent: Experimental and structural evidence from Ethiopia
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When faced with onerous procedures to apply for a job, potential applicants can be expected to weigh the costs of applying on their time and energy ag...
S1 Ep45: Paying outsourced labour: Evidence from Argentina
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When workers are supplied to a company through a temp agency, they earn less than the permanent employees they end up working with. Since work place s...
S1 Ep45: Incentivising behavioural change: The role of time preferences
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Incentivising people to lead healthier lives by means of monetary payments is a simple and cost-effective intervention, but are there ways to tweak th...
S1 Ep45: Do social structures affect the success of development policies?
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Relationships between groups are vital in village economies, but do these social structures affect the success of development policies? If resources a...
S1 Ep45: Negotiating a better future: Experimental evidence from Zambia
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Across the developing world, many girls face difficulties in persuading their parents to enrol them in secondary education. Whilst financial incentive...
S1 Ep45: Cities in the developing world
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
By 2050, the world’s urban population is estimated to reach nearly seven billion, driven mainly by urbanisation in developing countries. Despite thi...
S1 Ep45: Breaking down access constraints faced by women: Experimental evidence from Pakistan
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Across the world, women face invisible barriers that prevent them from taking up education and work. This is particularly the case in conservative soc...
S1 Ep44: Pipe dreams: Enforcing payment for water and sanitation services in Kenya
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Editors’ note: This podcast was updated on 25.08.2020 How can policymakers solve the problem of non-payment of utility bills while still maintain...
S1 Ep44: Trade in developing economies
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do trade barriers remain high in developing countries despite the significant potential to drive economic growth through trade? Advanced economies...
S1 Ep43: Inclusive growth dividend: Reframing the role of income transfers in India
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many development economists have advocated unconditional cash transfers as a crucial tool for reducing poverty, especially during the present COVID-19...
S1 Ep43: Does vocational educational training work? Experimental evidence from Mongolia
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can investments in vocational training, contrary to the existing research literature, actually improve labour market outcomes?
S1 Ep42: Reducing rates of child marriage: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we still see high rates of child marriage in settings such as Bangladesh, despite significant improvements in women’s economic empowerment?
S1 Ep42: Poverty and depression: How improving mental health can help economic wellbeing
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How do poor mental health and poverty interact, and how can we best ensure access to mental health services?
S1 Ep41: Incentivising bureaucrats through performance-based postings: Experimental evidence from Pakistan
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How can we best incentivise bureaucrats in a formal manner that avoids concerns over corruption?
S1 Ep40: Social learning in agriculture: Experimental evidence from Malawi
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can policymakers speed up the adoption of modern agricultural technologies through peer-to-peer learning?
S1 Ep39: Does household electrification supercharge economic development?
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To what extent do the poorest rural households in sub-Saharan Africa benefit from residential electrification investments?
S1 Ep38: Cash transfers and the wider economy: Evidence from Kenya
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do unconditional cash transfers increase welfare in communities as a whole, even within households that do not receive them?
S1 Ep37: How to protect the poor in the time of COVID-19?
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How can governments in developing countries best ensure widespread and effective social protection in light of the COVID-19 pandemic?
S1 Ep36: Cushioning the effects of COVID-19 on the poor
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How can we best protect the most vulnerable in the developing world during the COVID-19 pandemic?
S1 Ep35: Migration and risk sharing: Evidence from Bangladesh
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Whilst rural to urban migration can improve the allocation of labour, can it have unintended consequences on risk sharing in rural communities?
S1 Ep35: Alcohol and self-control: Evidence from India
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rickshaw drivers in India who randomly received sobriety incentives as part of an experiment significantly reduced their daytime drinking
S1 Ep34: Alleviating financial strain to drive productivity: Evidence from India
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Does easing the financial stress of short-term workers by paying them earlier lead to productivity improvements?
S1 Ep33: Increasing sleep for the urban poor: Evidence from India
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many researchers have suggested that increased sleep at night translates into improved working outcomes, such as higher productivity. But while thes...
S1 Ep32: Taxation, civic culture and state capacity
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do some countries have high rates of taxation and high compliance, while some failed states have neither?
S1 Ep31: Mexico’s economic growth puzzle: A conversation with Santiago Levy
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why has economic growth stuttered in Mexico despite, on the face of it, implementation of sensible economic policies by successive governments? Sin...
S1 Ep30: Multinational enforcement of labour laws: Evidence from Bangladesh
23 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some multinationals privately enforce labour standards among their suppliers in developing countries. But is this effective, and does it complement or...
S1 Ep29: Lessons from Mexico’s poverty reduction programme
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Mexico in 1996, the extreme poverty rate had climbed above 30%, prompting the government to introduce a poverty reduction programme called Progresa...
S1 Ep28: Does research translate into policy? Evidence from Brazilian municipalities
02 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Social science research seeks to improve the world we live in. Yet, there is little information on how much political leaders actually value this rese...
S1 Ep27: The future of the World Bank: Why knowledge is power
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Penny Goldberg is the World Bank’s Chief Economist. This means she manages the research department and is in charge of the research agenda. The Worl...
S1 Ep26: The changing face of development: Backlash against globalisation
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On our two year anniversary we asked a few experts to reflect over the last two years of development economics and discuss what they think have been t...
S1 Ep25: The changing face of development: The elite capture of democracy
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On our two year anniversary we asked a few experts to reflect over the last two years of development economics and discuss what they think have been t...
S1 Ep24: The changing face of development: The gap between macroeconomic policy and research
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On our two year anniversary we asked a few experts to reflect over the last two years of development economics and discuss what they think have been t...
S1 Ep23: Ending global poverty: Why money is not enough
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How can we combat the increasing trend that extreme poverty is not only confined to low-income countries, but also to middle-income ones?
S1 Ep22: Power to the people: The impact of political report cards in India
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT, talks to Tim Phillips about the run-up to 2011 elections in Delhi, India,...
S1 Ep21: Where are the Indian female politicians?
17 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Evidence shows that when more women are elected, it changes broader development outcomes due to their differing priorities. Yet women are almost unrep...
S1 Ep20: Technology transfer and the rise of China
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Who wins and losses in the technology trade war? John van Reenen (MIT) explains to Tim Phillips why technology transfer in a globalised world isn’t ...
S1 Ep19: Why studies should be conducted on a larger scale
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus of University of California, San Diego, argue that when we test things at a small scale, they might not be predi...
S1 Ep19: Breaking gender-barriers: How women are becoming managers
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How do we get more women in senior positions? Chris Woodruff shares insights from the Bangladeshi garment industry. Find out more at VoxDev.org
S1 Ep18: Evidence to practice: Time to bridge the gap
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
VoxDev's own Editor-in-Chief, Tavneet Suri, drawing insights from her work at J-PAL and VoxDev, emphasises the importance of researchers deeply engagi...
S1 Ep17: Evidence to practice: Reforming private healthcare in India
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Using the example of healthcare in India, Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer, CDC, discusses how data plays a crucial role in making sure inves...
S1 Ep16: Achieving inclusive growth in Asia
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s Chief Economist, provides insight into Asia’s development and overcoming the middle-income trap. Find out more at VoxDev....
S1 Ep15: Evidence to practice: Unintended consequences in the absence of data
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rodger Voorhies, Executive Director of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shares a first-hand account of the importance of emp...
S1 Ep46: The political economy of donor funding: Insights from USAID
12 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How does USAID decide how and where to channel its efforts?
S1 Ep14: Is aid effective?
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Development aid by its very nature is provided in messy environments, is often very political and has inherent negative incentives. In such situations...
S1 Ep13: Ideas for development
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview, Robin Burgess discusses three ideas to foster socioeconomic development. First, he discusses how important the quality of civil ser...
S1 Ep12: Achieving meaningful impact through aid
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Glennerster discusses her role at DFID, her work on promoting electoral debates in Sierra Leone, the importance of strengthening local institut...
S1 Ep11: Tackling food insecurity
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We lose about 5% of global GDP due to hunger related diseases, and the situation is getting worse with the number of people living in food insecurity ...
S1 Ep9: Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The sustainable development goals have ushered in a new development paradigm. In this interview, Elliott Harris discusses the vision behind the creati...
S1 Ep8: The effects of pay inequality
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The idea that worker utility is affected by co-worker wages has potentially broad labour market implications. In a month-long experiment with Indian m...
S1 Ep7: What is holding firms back?
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Woodruff discusses the role management practices play in firm growth. Further, he explores different mechanisms for improving firm management in...
S1 Ep6: Globalisation and development
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
David Atkin explains why he thinks that globalisation has brought huge benefit to developing countries in terms of expanding their manufacturing secto...
S1 Ep5: Childcare and development
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing on lessons from Colombia and India, Orazio Attanasio of UCL discusses the roles, pre-existing welfare programmes' infrastructure, and parental...
S1 Ep4: If she builds it, they won’t come: The gender profit gap
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Male-owned firms earn nearly twice as much profit as female-owned firms. This difference is driven by a variance in the quantity of garments sold, rat...
S1 Ep3: Productivity and energy-saving technology
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How can we increase output per worker in countries like India and China where it is particularly low? Anant Nyshadham discusses one way to do so: by i...
S1 Ep2: Building a functional state in difficult places
08 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Building state functionality is difficult, and particularly so in fragile environments marred by weak institutions and political instability. Eliana L...