Eric Verhoogen

With Mario Bernasconi (Basel), Nicolas de Roux (U de los Andes), Patrick Farrell (Columbia), Josepa (Pepita) Miquel-Florensa (@tse-fr.eu), Rocco Macchiavello (LSE). @columbiauniversity.bsky.social @columbiasipa.bsky.social

A @voxdev.bsky.social summary of our paper on quality upgrading in Colombian coffee (R&R at QJE!). Tl;dr: Quality premia (above minimum) are not passed through, so farmers don't make long-term investments. But a large buyer solved the problem, in part by making mills pay more for quality.

At @columbiasipa.bsky.social , we are hiring a Professor of Practice in Development Economics. JOE listing: www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing..... We're looking for people with both research and policy experience. Feel free to reach out via DM or email (eric.verhoogen@columbia.edu) with questions.

Learning spillovers between firms are widely seen as important but are hard to estimate cleanly. We ran an experiment with energy-efficient motors in the Dhaka leather-goods sector. Links to non-technical summary and video below. With Ritam Chaurey, Gaurav Nayyar, and Siddharth Sharma.

📣📆 We are happy to announce our 2-day Summer school on Organizations in Developing Countries that will take place on June 24-25th. We will welcome two great keynotes: Manuel GARCÍA-SANTANA (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and @ericverhoogen.bsky.social (Columbia University).

Sector-targeted Skills Development as Industrial Policy

In today's blog, I discuss how countries can use sector-targeted skills development for industrial policy. This involves training workers in specific areas desired by industries you are targeting to develop. I give examples, caveats, lessons & note research gaps blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

"This chapter takes stock of what has been learned from the recent micro-development literature about wedges."

NEW in @nber.org by Lauren F. Bergquist, @ldaniall.bsky.social, and @ericverhoogen.bsky.social: nber.org/papers/w34756

New paper!

🆕 RFBerlin Discussion Paper! Lauren Falcao Bergquist, Danial Lashkari & @ericverhoogen.bsky.social analyze how microeconomic frictions and wedges distort resource allocation, with implications for productivity and economic efficiency.
🔗 www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/u...

📢 New free virtual course (PEDL x STEG)

Private Enterprises, Productivity, and Economic Growth - starting 6 Feb 2026

When: Fridays, 15:30–17:00 (London time)
Format: Virtual + recordings available

🔗 More info: grp.cepr.org/node/231
📝 Register here: cepr.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?...

Shedding early light on the effects of the CHIPS and Science Act on short-term employment, from Bilge Erten, Joseph E. Stiglitz, and @ericverhoogen.bsky.social www.nber.org/papers/w34625

🆕 RFBerlin Discussion Paper!
@bilgeerten.bsky.social, @josephestiglitz.bsky.social & @ericverhoogen.bsky.social analyze the employment impacts of the CHIPS Act, examining how industrial policy shapes job creation and labor-market adjustment.
🔗 www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/u...

Studying whether returns to quality upgrading get passed through to primary agricultural producers finds that in Colombian coffee, the answer is mostly no, but sometimes yes, from Macchiavello, Miquel-Florensa, de Roux, @ericverhoogen.bsky.social, Bernasconi, and Farrell www.nber.org/papers/w34610

A quick (2 minute) video explainer of the main results of our Brookings paper on the employment effects of the CHIPS Act is here: www.youtube.com/shorts/BUY8g...

Many thanks to @emanuelornelas.bsky.social, Humberto Moreira, and Cecilia Menezes de Carvalho for the invitation!

A stimulating conference! (Link to program: www.sbe.org.br/en/encontro/...) Highlights were presenting alongside @christianvolpem.bsky.social‬ and @emanuelornelas.bsky.social on export promotion, getting great feedback on Brazil minimum wages project -- and forro music at the conference party!

Has the CHIPS Act created jobs? | Brookings The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 included funds for billions of dollars in federal investments in U.S.-based manufacturing, a major landmark in the history of America’s industrial policy. While the f...

US Industrial policy underwent a revival under Biden. What have the effects been? @bilgeerten.bsky.social, @josephestiglitz.bsky.social , and I have a new @brookings.edu paper on employment effects of the CHIPS Act. We sat with @markmuro1.bsky.social to discuss.
www.brookings.edu/articles/has...

Looking forward to the @theigc.bsky.social / @yaleegc.bsky.social Firms/Trade/Development conference tomorrow and Saturday! Conference page is here: egc.yale.edu/events/2025/.... There's a virtual option.

@nathanlane.bsky.social @bilgeerten.bsky.social @nilskupzok.bsky.social @josephestiglitz.bsky.social

The Columbia New Thinking in Industrial Policy Conference is coming up Nov. 6-7. We have a great program lined up: cdep.sipa.columbia.edu/sites/cdep.s... Conference page: cdep.sipa.columbia.edu/content/new-... Registration: docs.google.com/forms/d/18HK... Please register by Oct. 30.

Knowledge spillovers are key to growth but hard to estimate. Randomly giving out energy-efficient motors to leather-goods firms in Bangladesh led to strong local spillovers, from Ritam Chaurey, Gaurav Nayyar, Siddharth Sharma, and @ericverhoogen.bsky.social https://www.nber.org/papers/w34296

Short version: using two county-level difference-in-difference strategies, we show that the Act had significant employment effects that began with a Senate precursor bill (USICA) and anticipated the actual CHIPS awards. Check it out. Final version will be posted soon.

BPEA Fall 2025 Conference | Brookings

It was a real pleasure to present at the @brookings.edu BPEA conference on Thursday, a new paper on the employment effects of the CHIPS Act in the US, with @josephestiglitz.bsky.social and @bilgeerten.bsky.social. Video, slides, and preliminary draft are here: www.brookings.edu/events/bpea-...

Submission deadline for the Columbia New Thinking in Industrial Policy Conference is this Friday, Sept. 12, 11:59pm ET. Congressman Ro Khanna (@khanna.house.gov) will be the keynote speaker. Send us your papers!

Submission deadline is this Sunday.

Submission deadline for this PEDL young scholars workshop (to take place the day before the Oct 24-25 @theigc.bsky.social/@yaleegc.bsky.social ‬Firms/Trade/Development conference) is Sept 7 (soon!). For researchers post-PhD but untenured (or <=8 years out). Hope to see many of you there.

Call for papers! 3rd New Thinking in Industrial Policy Conference ‪at Columbia, Nov. 6-7, 2025. Submit here by Sept. 12: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F.... Conf page: cdep.sipa.columbia.edu/content/new-.... Hosts:
‪@ipdcolumbia.bsky.social‬, @cdepcolumbia.bsky.social, ‪@columbiaigp.bsky.social‬, CPE.

A conversation with RPDE Visiting Professor Eric Verhoogen: from teacher and union organizer to studying soccer ball manufacturing Summer has meant a lot of changes here at RPDE. As with everyone at Princeton, it has meant bracing for summer heat and saying goodbye to graduating students and those leaving for summer. At RPDE in p...

Check out our conversation with Eric Verhoogen @ericverhoogen.bsky.social, who visited us this past year. Hear about his path from union organizer to development economist, how to optimally tile pentagons when making soccer balls, and more

rpde.princeton.edu/news/2025/co...

A randomized evaluation of matching grants to promote exports in Tunisia finds large effects on exports, but mainly of existing products to existing destinations, from Nadia Ali, Giacomo De Giorgi, Aminur Rahman, and @ericverhoogen.bsky.social https://www.nber.org/papers/w33985

What Do Market-Access Subsidies Do? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New paper! RCT on subsidies for fixed market-access costs in Tunisia. Big effects on exports (for existing destinations/products) but not # of destinations/products, in contrast to policy goals and some workhorse trade models. w/ Nadia Ali, Giacomo De Giorgi, Aminur Rahman www.nber.org/papers/w33985