VoxDev Development Economics

Mobile money has created many opportunities for users. But its fees can be expensive. One solution: create competition between mobile money providers in Africa through interoperability. But if we reduce the profitability of providers, might it also reduce network coverage, and therefore financial inclusion too? Nicola Limodio tells Tim Phillips about the upside and downside of competition in Africa’s mobile money market.

Exploring the use of macroeconomic models in development policy. Advancements in macro and micro research in development economics. The role of international trade in growth. The impact of the Steg Initiative on macro development economics. Areas for future research in development economics.

What is the role of state capacity in economic development? Nicola Mastrorocco spent five years digitalising civil service records from a century of economic development in the US, showing how a century of bureaucracy changed the US, and what this tells us about how a state bureaucracy evolves.

The podcast discusses the concept and benefits of industrial policy, debunking the myth that the US didn't have one. It explores the economic arguments against industrial policy and the evolving objectives of modern industrial policies. The importance of government support and collaboration with the private sector is highlighted, along with successful examples of industrial policies in different countries. The podcast also explores the effectiveness of sub-national industrial policies in addressing underemployment and promoting economic development.

Economist explores place-based policies, their recognition, and efficacy. Focuses on policy treatment effects and successful interventions. Discusses development policy, funding, tax incentives, and outcomes for struggling regions. Examines the impact of community college training programs on economic development. Explores effectiveness, challenges, and mixed success of place-based policies.

What is the fairest and most efficient way to improve not just access to education, but outcomes too? Should policymakers focus on a broader markets and systems approach to education reform? Emiliana Vegas and Asim Khwaja tell Tim Phillips about what a markets and systems approach to delivering education reform is, and what it has already achieved in Pakistan and Chile.

Researchers want to maximise the development impact of their advice. Stefan Dercon tells Tim Phillips, that to do this, they need to consider the local political constraints and opportunities, and not be “The sort of technocrat that says ‘’nothing to do with me, it’s someone else’s problem’.”

While the news agenda is grabbed by droughts, hurricanes and wildfires, the inexorable rise in sea level is less easy to see. But it will affect billions of people living in coastal regions in our lifetimes. What are the possibilities for, and costs of, adaptation? Allan Hsiao discusses how low-lying cities like Jakarta will cope.

What is the social cost of carbon? What can it tell us about the effects of, and the feasibility of policies to cope with, climate change? Michael Greenstone tells Tim Phillips about how the process of assigning a value to the cost of emissions, and how that can help us to think clearly about the choices we make.

Macroeconomic development policies can be effective to combat poverty. But a lot of research uses smaller-scale RCTs and experiments. Can macro theory and micro empirical research complement one another? Francisco Buera and Joseph Kaboski tell Tim Phillips how this can work in practice, and how it can lead to better policy.