This week we featured research on scaling policies, rethinking evidence, conservation, place-based policy, hotter nights and more...
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On Tuesday, John A. List provided a framework for identifying effective policies that can scale. He advocates for adding a third option to traditional A/B tests, that accounts for the realities of a programme implemented at scale. By flipping the traditional research and policy-development model, researchers can generate policy-based evidence to help policymakers scale the best policies.
Is 'rigorous' evidence overrated? In this episode of VoxDevTalks, Lant Pritchett discusses the overreliance on rigorous evidence in development economics. Pritchett critiques the dominance of Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews, questioning whether this approach delivers actionable insights for diverse country contexts.
Some in policy circles fear that devolving control over forest resources to local communities may accelerate deforestation and worsen the climate crisis. However, Saad Gulzar, Apoorva Lal and Benjamin Pasquale find that the large-scale transfer of political power to India’s historically marginalised Scheduled Tribes significantly enhanced forest conservation.
Government-led construction of manufacturing plants in dispersed US locations during WWII led to persistent increases in local manufacturing employment and wages. In today's article, Andrew Garin and Jonathan Rothbaum find that place-based policy increased upward economic mobility among pre-war residents who benefitted from local access to higher-wage work in the US.
As the planet continues to warm, new research shows that hotter nights are disrupting sleep and hurting economic decisions. Michelle Escobar Carías, David Johnston, Rachel Knott and Rohan Sweeney outline evidence from Indonesia which shows that elevated night-time temperatures disturb sleep, hinder cognitive performance and increase impatience and irrational behaviour. Worryingly, these effects disproportionately impact vulnerable populations.
Firm-to-firm trade is an essential for economic activity, yet little is known about how well firms find and connect with suppliers and clients. Earlier this week, Jing Cai, Wei Lin and Adam Szeidl outline evidence from China which shows that firms underestimate the value of new partnerships and therefore under-search for partners. As a result, referrals to new suppliers and clients can greatly improve firm performance.
On Wednesday, Chun Chee Kok and Gedeon Lim showed that living closer to the resettlement sites of ethnic minorities in Malaysia reduced voter’s preference for ethno-nationalistic politics by improving economic outcomes and enhancing the frequency of casual inter-ethnic contact in shared public spaces.
Elsewhere this week:
- On the amazing YouTube channel, econimate, The Cost of Political Corruption.
- On (the also amazing) OurWorldinData, Simon van Teutem and Tuna Acisu discuss the great global redistributor we never hear about: money sent or brought back by migrants.
- For those with a subscription, I would recommend The Economist's recent special report on The Africa Gap.
- On the LSE Blog, Clara Weinhardt and Ferdi de Ville outline how the EU’s geoeconomic shift is adversely affecting developing countries.
- GiveWell describes their cross-cutting research strategy.
- On 3ei, Pierre Marion and Shannon Shisler outline lessons from more than two decades of market access interventions for smallholder farmers.
- Check out Mulago's Links, gathering the best stuff they run into for impact-obsessed doers and funders. This month's list here.
And a great opportunity for students in Africa:
- Graduate Applications International Network (GAIN) - learn about the GAIN network, which supports students in Africa applying to international programmes (Masters and PhD).