VoxDev Development Economics

If poor people are caught in a poverty trap, a large one-time grant might be life changing. That's the thinking behind programs to target the ultra-poor. But is the impact of this "big push" genuinely permanent? Garima Sharma tells Tim Phillips about the impact of a program in India, 10 years on.

Extreme weather doesn't just ruin one crop: it means that the following year small farmers won't have income to invest. Better seeds and insurance against this sort of bad luck are partial solutions, but what if we combine them in one package? Paswel Marenya tells Tim Phillips about a successful multi-year trial in Tanzania and Mozambique.

Progresa was the groundbreaking and much-copied cash transfer program created by the Mexican government in 1997. Literally millions of children benefited from it. But are they still feeling that benefit? Karen Macours tells Tim Phillips about how a group of economists tracked down the first Progresa generation, and what they discovered.

Research from the Dominican Republic shows that it is more common than we assumed (and more beneficial to both parties) if workers move to another firm in the same supply chain. Cian Ruane tells Tim Phillips why this hard-to-spot effect is important for economic development.

How much do we know about what workfare programs achieve for people who take part? An analysis of one program in Côte d’Ivoire fills in some of the gaps in our knowledge, Patrick Premand tells Tim Phillips.

Entrepreneurs create most of the new jobs in Africa. But can the skills of an entrepreneur be taught, and which skills will be most useful for Africa's young businesspeople? Paul Gertler tells Tim Phillips about a groundbreaking training program in Uganda.

Economists have been arguing about whether openness to international trade creates growth for 250 years. David Atkin tells Tim Phillips about his analysis of the conditions in which increased openness improves welfare in a developing country. 

Auditing ensures public procurement is good value. Or does it? An experiment in Chile suggests the audit itself makes procurement less efficient afterwards. Dina Pomeranz opened the black box of the audit process and tells Tim Phillips what she discovered.

Turkey has received 4m refugees from Syria, a quarter of them children. How can its schools integrate so many new students, help them to make friends and to learn a new language? Sule Alan tells Tim Phillips about a program that has successfully built social cohesion in Turkey's schools.

Paraguay, like Peru and Mexico, is supporting seniors with a monthly non-contributory pension payment. What difference does this income make to the people who receive it? Quite a lot, Sebastian Galiani tells Tim Phillips.