VoxDev

Issue 1 of our #VoxDevLit on Taxation is out now! Read and download here: https://lnkd.in/eWtReqSn This policy-oriented review summarises findings from the growing body of research on taxation and development and identifies some feasible policy levers, that are available to all tax authorities, that can help strengthen tax processes. This #VoxDevLit by Senior Editor Anders Jensen (Harvard University), and Co-Editors Anne Brockmeyer (The World Bank) and Lucie Gadenne (Queen Mary University of London), is a living literature review and will be kept up to date with the latest evidence.

🆕How a documentary film fostered interethnic harmony in Bangladesh Interethnic tensions are a widespread issue with significant implications for social cohesion and economic development. In many developing countries, ethnic minorities face exclusionary and discriminatory practices from dominant majority groups, which limit their access to opportunities and hinder their socioeconomic advancement. Reducing these ethnic frictions is crucial to enabling equitable growth and improving social relations. Today on VoxDev, Abu Siddique (Royal Holloway, University of London), Michael Vlassopoulos (University of Southampton) & Yves Zenou (Monash University) outline how a documentary film, shown to a majority group, portraying the daily lives of a minority group, increased prosociality and reduced complaints against the minority: https://lnkd.in/e-giNcEf

This week we featured research on financing climate adaptation, infectious diseases, cement prices & more... A few snapshots from the week: On Tuesday, Jules Gazeaud and Claire Ricard outlined their research analysing why a CCT programme implemented at scale in Morocco led to gains in enrolment but not learning: https://lnkd.in/eMUrafR4 Climate change is increasing the severity and incidence of extreme weather events. How can policymakers help build farmer resilience to these shocks? Yesterday, Tim Phillips spoke to Tavneet Suri about how to build farmer resilience: https://lnkd.in/ey-4gWfK On Monday, Fabrizio Leone, Rocco Macchiavello and Tristan Reed outlined their new research suggesting that market size may explain Africa's high but falling price of cement: https://lnkd.in/eNRqtuXr You can sign up here to receive our newsletter that covers all of the research we release every week: https://lnkd.in/eRh-JRkX

🆕 How do voters respond to information on local politicians’ performance? Elections are the key institution of democracy. Citizens exercise political control by electing their representatives and holding them accountable for their performance. However, poor governance abounds, and it often does with electoral support. Why does this happen? Past studies have hypothesised that citizens may lack information to adequately assess their leaders. How does receiving information about local government performance affect voter behaviour? Loreto Cox (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), Sylvia Eyzaguirre (Centro de Estudios Públicos), Francisco Gallego (J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean) and Maximiliano Garcia (Brown University) examine how, in Chile, sending voters a letter with information about the educational outcomes of public schools in their municipality affected voter behaviour: https://lnkd.in/e-PQSBym

How can researchers and students based in low- and middle-income use generative AI for economic research? Anton Korinek recently joined VoxDev to show how you can start using #generativeAI in your #research. His key messages: - You should already be using Generative AI - Access to cutting-edge models is free, and a slow internet connection is all that's needed. - Treat the LLM as if it was your intern who is smart, incredibly motivated & eager to help, but completely lacks the context of what you are doing. In his interactive presentation, Anton shows how you can use gen AI products at different stages of the research process and highlights some of the current risks. ℹ Find more information, and download Anton's slides + paper, on our website: https://lnkd.in/eWma2h9A 🎞 Watch his presentation on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ecF4ncUC

🆕 Strengthening climate resilience in #agriculture ☀️🌧️ Today on VoxDevTalks, Tavneet Suri (MIT Sloan School of Management) discusses a Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) policy insight on improving the resilience of farmers to #climatechange. This podcast covers topics including: - Why are small-scale farmers particularly vulnerable to #climatechange? - How new seed varieties can help build #farmerresilience - What makes farmers change their seed types? - How can better information help? - How can #mobilemoney and emergency loans make farmers more resilient? - What are graduation programmes and are they impactful? - How to spur technology adoption - Providing a market for insurance Listen now wherever you get your podcasts: https://lnkd.in/ey-4gWfK

🆕 Digital access and infectious disease spread Digital access holds great potential to boost healthcare productivity, especially in lower-income countries with limited physical infrastructure. However, whether it can effectively replace physical healthcare resources remains an open question. In today's article, Johannes Kunz (Centre for Health Economics - Monash Business School), Carol Propper (Imperial College Business School) & Trong-Anh Trinh (Centre for Health Economics - Monash Business School), outline the findings from their recent paper (Kunz et al. 2024). They explore the impact of internet access on health outcomes by examining the effect of digital connectivity on the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia, a developing country with considerable variations in mobile internet access and COVID-19 cases across different regions.  https://lnkd.in/eCRshnvU

📢 Calling students, staff, and alumni. Join us for a panel and interactive discussion by our departmental Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team on Thursday 7 November, 5.45-8.00 pm. ▶️Register: https://lnkd.in/eTMjed7h This year's theme critically examines EDI practices in a globalizing world: 🟠 Who benefits from EDI? 🟠 Are Western EDI practices applicable in the Global South? 🟠 How can we adapt EDI for various cultures? 🟠 How to embrace “cultural humility” for inclusive EDI? Network with EDI practitioners, researchers, and DoM students. Speakers: Pooja Sachdev: Business psychologist & founder of Rewire Consulting, focusing on unconscious bias & organisational culture. Chin Ru Foo: Founder of CREW & RIOT, with 25 years in marketing & a passion for inclusivity, previously a Global Innovation Director.

🌍 Economic evidence to support effective climate policy at COP29 COP29 starts on November 11th in Baku, Azerbaijan. Decisions made at COP hold significant importance for LMICs given the scale and multi-dimensionality of the climate challenge and their relative contribution to total and historical emissions relative to rich countries VoxDev has featured a wide range of research that explores environmental economics, the impacts of climate change on LMICs, and how individuals, communities, NGOs and governments are adapting to these threats. Often this work focuses on micro-level interventions or studies a particular climate event, whilst COP is primarily about national and global commitments. In today's blog, Deputy Managing Editor, Paola Davila, draws a link between COP29’s high-level agenda and VoxDev’s resources: https://lnkd.in/ekyABPpU

Financing #climateadaptation: What works, what doesn’t, and can #carboncredits help to bridge the gap? The first episode of Development Dialogues, our new series with Yale Economic Growth Center, is out now! Namrata Kala (MIT Sloan School of Management), Rohini Pande (Yale Department of Economics) and Catherine Wolfram (MIT Sloan School of Management) join Catherine Cheney to discuss how #climatefinance can reach those who need it most. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/ezwE-wyf