This week we featured research on industrial policy, subsidising schools, robots and more...
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As countries in Sub-Saharan Africa debate the costs and benefits of subsidising secondary education, a 15-year RCT in Ghana finds large multi-generation impacts. On Monday, Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, Michael Kremer, Elizabeth Spelke and Mark Walsh discussed the sizable effects on human capital and health outcomes, particularly among female recipients.
Industrial policy prioritises growth in specific sectors. Yet there is little agreement about how to target sectors in practice, especially in developing countries, and many argue that governments cannot pick winners. So, how have governments’ export promotion agencies been effective in coordinating public inputs to grow industries? Tristan Reed makes the case that this export-led industrialisation may be the path to economic development.
Do robots improve worker safety? On Tuesday, Wei Luo, Lixin Tang, Yaxin Yang, and Xianqiang Zou assessed how the rise of industrial robots in China has significantly decreased the rates of workplace accidents and fatalities.
Cash transfer programmes are widely regarded as effective tools for poverty reduction. They have been linked to long-term benefits, including improved school attendance, better health outcomes, and overall economic growth. However, a crucial question remains: do these transfers also raise local prices, thereby reducing their net benefits, especially for non-recipients? In this week’s episode of VoxDevTalks, Eeshani Kandpal delves into the broader economic implications of cash transfer programmes.
Fintech has the potential to enhance financial inclusion and welfare for low-income migrants, but its benefits may be limited for migrants with lower financial literacy. In today's article, Eduardo Nakasone, Máximo Torero, and Angelino Viceisza examine the impact of remittance comparison websites on financial inclusion in Central America.
Post-harvest loans can stop farmers selling low and buying high. Sanghamitra Warrier Mukherjee, Lauren Falcao Bergquist, Marshall Burke and Edward Miguel demonstrate how integrated financial solutions can enable grain storage, channel returns into forward-looking investments, and smooth seasonal prices, yielding benefits for the broader community.
Evidence from economic research featured on VoxDev has shed light on effective government interventions around the world. In Wednesday's blog, Managing Editor Oliver Hanney highlights nine examples of public policies that have improved welfare in Colombia, India and Mexico.
Elsewhere in development economics, here is what we've be reading:
- The OECD's States of Fragility 2025 report is out now.
- Diane Coyle discusses how to provide evidence in turbulent times on the FT.
- Vijaya Ramachandran, Juzel Lloyd and Seaver Wang wrote about Data Centers, Emerging Economies, and the Need for Cheap, Firm Energy.
- And on Development Impact: How can you use the Social Science Prediction Platform for development papers? & How can the world respond to climate change?
Plus some interesting conferences:
- The Environmental Populism Conference - This conference explores our understanding of the contentious politics of climate policy focusing on ideology, economic interests, and institutional design.
- 2025 WEFIDEV - RFS - CEPR Conference on Finance and Development.