Dina Pomeranz

Why collectivisation in Vietnam still holds back agricultural productivity decades later Evidence from Vietnam shows that institutional barriers not only misallocate resources but also discourage farmers from investing in productivity improvements, compounding the losses from misallocatio...

🆕 Why collectivisation in Vietnam still holds back agricultural productivity decades later

Stephen Ayerst (IMF), Loren Brandt (@econuoft.bsky.social) & Diego Restuccia discuss how institutional barriers discourage farmers from investing in productivity improvements: voxdev.org/topic/agricu...

🚨Since the war with Iran started, the Israeli government has closed Gaza’s crossings. These crossings are the main routes for humanitarian aid to enter and the only way critically ill Palestinians can leave Gaza for treatment. Gaza doesn’t have enough food. Don’t stop talking about Gaza.

When the war with Iran started, our Solidarity Guard activists decided to remain in Palestinian villages to continue providing protective presence despite the risk — because state-backed settler violence hasn’t let up.

Could rural-urban climate migration help formalise the economy? Evidence from Brazil shows that drought-driven rural-urban migration reduced urban informality over a decade, contradicting conventional wisdom.

🆕 Could rural-urban climate migration help formalise the economy?

Today on VoxDev, Clément Imbert (Sciences Po) & Gabriel Ulyssea (UCL) discuss how drought-driven migration reduced urban informality in Brazil: https://ow.ly/MHCf50YnTLl

Erneuerbare Energie ist Sicherheitsenergie, macht uns resilienter, unabhängiger, weniger erpressbar und wir finanzieren weniger Unrechtsregime, die den Profit gegen unsere liberalen Demokratien investieren.

Oil spills from tankers have fallen by more than 90% since the 1970s. Stacked bar chart showing annual counts of tanker oil spills from 1970 to 2024, with the vertical axis labeled 0 to 120 spills and the horizontal axis by year. Bars are stacked to show two categories: medium oil spills (7 to 700 tonnes) and large oil spills (greater than 700 tonnes). Only medium and large spills are included; smaller spills are excluded. Key annotations: a callout at 1974 notes 117 oil spills occurred that year, 27 of them large; a callout at 2024 notes 10 oil spills occurred that year, 5 of them large. Overall the chart shows a sharp peak in the early to mid-1970s, followed by a long-term decline in annual spill counts, with much lower and relatively stable numbers from the 2000s onward and a slight uptick toward 2024. Data source in the footer: ITOPF (2025); website OurWorldInData.org/oil-spills. License: CC BY.

Oil spills from tankers have fallen by more than 90% since the 1970s—

In the 1970s, oil spills from tankers — container ships transporting oil — were common. Between 70 and 100 spills occurred per year. That’s one or two spills every week.

J Street Statement Opposing War With Iran - J Street We are appalled by President Trump’s reckless decision to launch a war of choice against Iran explicitly seeking regime change.

J Street opposes President Trump’s reckless decision to launch a war of choice against Iran. Read our full statement: https://bit.ly/3N71E4w

The Contrarian | Substack Unflinching journalism in defense of democracy.

⏰ In minutes: J Street’s @ilangoldenberg.bsky.social goes live with @jenrubin.bsky.social at 11am Eastern on The Contrarian to break down the strikes in Iran and what could come next.

Click to join: substack.com/@contrarian

1984

Can home visits enhance the impact of cash transfers? Adding home visits to a social safety net programme providing cash transfers and parenting information led to sustained improvements in child development, health behaviours, and education outcomes in Burkina Faso, whereas cash alone produced fewer lasting effects.

🆕 Can home visits enhance the impact of cash transfers?

Today on VoxDev, Richard Akresh (UIUC), Damien de Walque (World Bank), Harounan Kazianga (Oklahoma State University) & Abigail Stocker (William & Mary) discuss a social safety net programme in Burkina Faso: https://ow.ly/nqKQ50YmkLx

⌛Final reminder! #CallForPapers - Paris-Lyon Public Economics Workshop (PL-PubEcon)
📆28-29 May | 📍ENS Lyon
Deadline: 1 March
Organised by: @bgarbinti.bsky.social ‬& Jonathan Goupille-Lebret
cepr.org/events/paris...
#EconSky #EconConf

Do you have a topic you would like to see in the AEA Recent Developments series? We want to hear from you! Send suggested topics and lecturers to assa@vanderbilt.edu. #econsky

Adding home visits to a social safety net programme providing cash transfers and parenting information led to sustained improvements in child development, health behaviours, and education outcomes in Burkina Faso, whereas cash alone produced fewer lasting effects.

Read today's article to learn more

U.S. Will Offer Embassy Services in a West Bank Settlement for the First Time

The US embassy will offer services in West Bank settlements to settlers for the first time. As J Street’s Nadav Tamir warned in
@nytimes.com, this is “creeping recognition of [Israeli] sovereignty.”

Steps like this move us toward permanent occupation:

🚨 Closing Tomorrow 🚨

Call for Papers: 24th Nordic Conference in Development Economics (NCDE) 2026 Linnaeus University @linnaeus-econ.bsky.social

Keynote Speakers:

Jonas Hjort

Rohini Somanathan

Paper Submission Deadline: 28 February 2026

Read more here: theeconomicmisfit.com/2026/02/06/n...

PhDs Africa @ Work: Transformation of employment 1920 - 2020 at University of Groningen | The Economic Misfit Closing date: 2 March 2026Salary: €3.059 - €3.881The Faculty of Economics and Business offers an inspiring study and working environment for students and employees. International accreditation enables...

📢 PhD Positions – Africa @ Work: Transformation of Employment (1920–2020)

Closing date: 2 March 2026

Duration: 4 years (subject to positive first-year assessment)

Salary: €3,059 – €3,881 gross per month

Read more here: theeconomicmisfit.com/2026/02/25/p...

CESifo Area Conference on Economics of Education 2026 | The Economic Misfit 11 – 12 September 2026Location: CESifo, MunichCall for Papers Deadline: 11 May 2026 23:59 CET/CESTScientific Organizers: Eric A. Hanushek and  Ludger WoessmannWe invite our network members to submit p...

📢 CESifo Area Conference on Economics of Education 2026 – Call for Papers

Keynote Speaker:

John List (University of Chicago)

Submission Deadline: 11 May 2026 (23:59 CET/CEST)

Read more here: theeconomicmisfit.com/2026/02/24/c...

US-Lobbyist attackiert die Bundes­kanzlei Ein Berater der US-Handels­kammer interveniert gegen Digitalisierungsstrategie.

Umtriebiger US-Lobbyist: Als «besorgter Staatsbürger» ging Alex Grossenbacher gegen eine Weisung der Bundeskanzlei vor. Was er dabei verschwieg: Er ist Berater der Handelskammer Schweiz – USA. Von @adfichter.bsky.social.

This week in development economics at VoxDev: 27/02/2026 This week we featured research on jobs in Vietnam, pre-colonial Africa, Colombia coffee, Myanmar's mining ban and more!

This week we featured research on jobs in Vietnam, pre-colonial Africa, Colombia coffee, Myanmar's mining ban and more!

Read a summary of this work here: https://voxdev.org/topic/week-development-economics-voxdev-27022026

NIF Schweiz Newsletter Februar 2026: Zwischen Hoffnung und Widerstand: Zivilgesellschaft unter Druck

Die neuste Ausgabe unseres Newsletter ist da: Zwischen Hoffnung und Widerstand: Zivilgesellschaft unter Druck

preview.mailerlite.io/preview/8155...

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📣Join our team at J-PAL North America📣
We are #hiring two Research Associates based in Cambridge, MA. Please share with your networks & apply by 03/02!
🔗 https://www.povertyactionlab.org/careers/research-associate-j-pal-north-america-job-105501

Military Spending and IMF Surveillance: An Assessment, 2008-2023 Military spending received limited and uneven coverage in IMF surveillance. Of the 63 countries in which military spending was discussed in bilateral surveillance, fewer than 30 percent featured analy...

A new paper from Sanjeev Gupta examines how the IMF has addressed military spending in its multilateral and bilateral surveillance during 2008–2023.

He assesses the scope, depth, and evenhandedness of Fund advice on military expenditure:
https://go.cgdev.org/4rDOfzW

Den Privaten ist es natürlich freigestellt, politisch einseitig zu agieren. So ändert sich dort halt je nach Persönlichkeit und politischen Interessen der Besitzer die Berichterstattung. Wohin das führen kann sehen wir aktuell z.B. in den USA.

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Deshalb ist es so wichtig, dass wir einen verlässlichen Service Public haben mit der SRF, welcher einen klaren Auftrag für Ausgewogenheit hat und diesen Kurs stabil verfolgen kann.

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In Switzerland, not only 50k citizens can challenge a parliamentary decision by launching a referendum. 8 cantons can, too.

A cantonal referendum has happened only twice so far. If the individual taxation reform were rejected, it would mark the 2nd use of this instrument, and the cantons‘ 2nd win

The UK vote to leave the EU in 2016 led to an immediate rise in economic policy uncertainty. This column examines how Brexit-related policy uncertainty affected cross-border capital flows to the UK using firm-level evidence from Switzerland. Heightened uncertainty following the referendum led to a persistent decline in short-term debt flows to the UK, while equity investment remained largely unchanged. The adjustment was concentrated among US-controlled firms resident in Switzerland, reflecting their reliance on the UK as a platform for EU market access. The findings underscore the importance of monitoring the composition, not just the volume, of international capital flows.

Andreas Fischer & Pınar Yeşin use firm-level evidence from Switzerland to show Brexit-related policy uncertainty led to a persistent decline in short-term debt flows to the UK, while equity investment remained largely unchanged.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky

Ätzen ohne Grenzen Die israelische Regierung führt eine beispiellose Kampagne gegen Hilfs­organisationen.

Staatliche Sabotage: Israels Regierung führt eine heftige Kampagne gegen Hilfs­organisationen – und zwingt sie zu unmöglichen Entscheidungen. Lesen Sie jetzt die Recherche von @tikollbrunner.bsky.social https://republik.link/3ey4R

Myanmar’s 2016 mining moratorium substantially reduced violent conflict by cutting off armed groups’ access to resource rents and pushing workers into alternative livelihoods.

Read today's article to learn more:

Nasrallah Abu Siam, a 19-year-old Palestinian-American citizen, was killed by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank after trying to protect his sheep from settlers attempting to steal them. (1/3)