This week we featured research on financing climate adaptation, infectious diseases, cement prices & more...
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While there is plenty of evidence showing that CCT programmes boost enrolment, evidence on their impacts on children’s learning is mixed. Earlier this week, 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.
How does receiving information about local government performance affect voter behaviour? Loreto Cox, Sylvia Eyzaguirre, Francisco Gallego and Maximiliano Garcia examine how, in Chile, sending voters a letter with information about the educational outcomes of public schools in their municipality affected voter behaviour.
Climate change is increasing the severity and incidence of extreme weather events. How can policymakers help build farmer resilience to these shocks? For the third podcast in our series in collaboration with J-PAL, covering their policy insights which highlight evidence on important topics in development, Tim Phillips speaks to Tavneet Suri about how to build farmer resilience.
The prices of several goods, including intermediate inputs such as cement, urea fertiliser, and broadband internet, are higher on average in the world's poorest countries, including many in Africa. This is important for two reasons: higher prices for intermediate goods can slow economic growth, and this evidence runs counter to the general tendency for prices to rise with national income — a cornerstone of modern international macroeconomics. On Monday, Fabrizio Leone, Rocco Macchiavello and Tristan Reed outline their new research suggesting that market size may explain Africa's high but falling price of cement.
What are the most critical gaps in financing climate adaptation? Can voluntary carbon markets act as sources of adaptation finance? How can policymakers bridge the gap between mitigation and adaptation policy? On Tuesday, we released the first episode of 'Development Dialogues', a collaboration with the Yale Economic Growth Center. Catherine Cheney spoke to Namrata Kala, Rohini Pande and Catherine Wolfram about the challenges and opportunities in climate finance and the role of markets in driving change.
COP29 starts on November 11th in Baku, Azerbaijan. Decisions made at COP hold significant importance for LMICs. 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. In Tuesday's blog, Deputy Managing Editor Paola Davila, draws a link between COP29’s high-level agenda and VoxDev’s resources.
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 Wednesday's article, Johannes Kunz , Carol Propper and Trong-Anh Trinh examine 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.
Elsewhere in development economics:
- Are you an early career scholar? PEDL is hosting a matchmaking workshop to connect young scholars working on private enterprise development in Africa and South Asia. Learn more and apply here.
- FCDO are hiring a Chief Economist and Director of Analysis.
- Alice Evans discusses Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?
- Witold Więcek writes about deworming on CGDEV - Resolving the Deworming Paradox: Rethinking Deworming Campaigns for Children.
- CSAE have started releasing short videos outlining key research takeaways from economic research on development.
- IPA have released a useful new guide for funders looking to maximise impact.
- From this year's NEUDC conference, Paul Novosad has a twitter thread on Karthik Muralidharan's presentation on state capacity and Sarah Vincent has a thread on a panel discussion of publishing in economics.
- Check out Causal Claims in Economics, which hosts Prashant Garg and Thiemo Fetzer's efforts, using AI, to map out the intricate network of causal claims that shape economic research.
We will be back on Monday with a full week of content on interethnic harmony, institutions, land use and more!