About VoxDev
Development economics from research to practice
What is VoxDev? VoxDev is a platform for economists, policymakers, practitioners, donors, the private sector and others interested in development to discuss key policy issues. Expert contributors provide insightful commentary, analysis, and evidence on a wide range of policy challenges in formats that we hope are accessible to a wide audience interested in development. We aim to put evidence from decades of academic research into the hands of decision-makers and civil society in developing countries in a way that they can be easily accessed and actually put to use, ultimately encouraging the design and implementation of more evidence-based policy.
In our VoxDevLits (living literature reviews), articles, podcasts and videos, academic and policy experts outline the key policy takeaways from cutting-edge research on development economics.
VoxDev, launched in June 2017, is a collaboration between the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the International Growth Centre, and the Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries programme. It is modelled on CEPR’s successful VoxEU platform. Michael Callen, Stefano Caria, and Cesi Cruz make up the Editorial Board, who are supported by Managing Editor Oliver Hanney.
VoxDev's Editorial Board
Martina Björkman-Nyqvist is a Professor of Economics and the Executive Director of Misum (Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets at SSE) at the Stockholm School of Economics. Her research interests are within development economics focusing on health, education, and gender. She is an affiliate of the J-Poverty Action Lab (J-Pal), a CEPR Research Fellow, and a BREAD Affiliate.
Michael Callen is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Economics department at the LSE. He is a co-director of the state capabilities programme at the International Growth Centre and a research associate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. His research focuses on development economics, political economy, and behavioral economics.
Stefano Caria is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick. He is affiliated with J-PAL and CEPR (development and labour). He is also IGC lead academic for Ethiopia and serves as trustee for the Global Change Data Lab.
Cesi Cruz is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Cesi is a board member of Experiments in Governance and Politics (EGAP) and Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC), and serves on the executive board of Women Also Know Stuff.
Managing Editor: Oliver Hanney
Oliver Hanney is the Managing Editor of VoxDev, based out of CEPR's London office. Before joining in 2022 he completed his MSc in Economics for Development at Oxford, and before that a BSc in Economics at Warwick. He is passionate about ensuring the best research is presented in an accessible manner to the right people. Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]
VoxDev's Partners
The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) was founded in 1983 to enhance the quality of economic policy-making within Europe and beyond, by fostering high quality, policy-relevant economic research, and disseminating it widely to decision-makers in the public and private sectors. Drawing together the expertise of its more than 1,300 Research Fellows and Affiliates, CEPR initiates, funds and coordinates research activities and communicates the results quickly and effectively to decision makers around the world. These researchers are organized in ten Programme Areas which span most areas of economics, each led by Programme Directors who provide intellectual leadership and quality control. CEPR is led by its President, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, and four Vice Presidents.
The International Growth Centre (IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by promoting demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. IGC funds a wide range of top researchers, has economists based in 15 partner countries across Africa and South Asia, and over 200 active projects covering state effectiveness, firm capabilities, cities, and energy. IGC is majority funded by FCDO.
The Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) programme pursues a research agenda focusing on private-sector development in low-income countries (LICs) and is motivated by the need to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in these countries. It offers a competitive research grants scheme for projects related to the behaviour of firms in LICs. PEDL is funded by FCDO.
Previous Editorial Board members
On VoxDev’s sixth birthday, Tavneet Suri announced she was stepping down as Editor-in-Chief. Christopher Woodruff and Robin Burgess will oversee the transition period for the new board, before also stepping down. Previously, Namrata Kala, Robert Darko Osei, Rema Hanna and Chang-Tai Hsieh have also been members of our Editorial Board.