Emaan Siddique

Inequality pushes poor households to sacrifice nutrition for ‘little luxuries’, reshaping basic needs and worsening malnutrition.

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This week in development economics at VoxDev: 21/11/2025 This week we featured research on debt, inequality, conflict, government and more!

This week we featured research on debt, inequality, conflict, government and more!

Read a summary of this work here: https://voxdev.org/topic/week-development-economics-voxdev-21112025

A new open-access dataset covering more than 50,000 loans and securities issued by 54 African countries reveals that African governments now raise more than half of their financing at home, reversing decades of dependence on external lenders.

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In China, granting firms the right to trade internationally boosted productivity, with gains growing over time and shared with workers through higher wages.

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Training women in assertive communication in India enabled them to more effectively persuade their husbands to support their participation in the workforce – leading to substantial and sustained increases in women’s job uptake and earnings at low cost.

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🆕 The origins of government 📢

Today on VoxDevTalks, Leander Heldring (@kelloggschoolnu.bsky.social) discusses how effective statehood does not follow a single linear path – but instead depends on how societies mobilise and provide public goods: voxdev.org/topic/instit...

In India, conflict boosts electoral support for incumbents only when leaders and media make it politically salient, turning soldier deaths into narratives of national strength.

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Aggregate data can mask micro-level adjustments in the wake of terrorist activities. Administrative data from Pakistan reveals how a major terrorist attack distorted export patterns across firms, products, and regions.

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📢 Revolutions in computing have led to the rapid development and deployment of a new set of programmes to support student learning.

At our VoxDevLit launch event on December 4, @singhabhi.bsky.social will summarise evidence on education technology.

Register➡️ cepr-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Although machine learning models using mobile phone data can make poverty targeting faster and more cost-effective, traditional survey-based methods remain more accurate.

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This week in development economics at VoxDev: 14/11/2025 This week we featured research on trade, corruption, migration, R&D and more!

This week we featured research on trade, corruption, migration, R&D and more!

Read a summary of this work here: https://voxdev.org/topic/week-development-economics-voxdev-14112025

When female labour reforms fail to align with employer incentives, they can deepen rather than reduce gender disparities in the labour market, as shown by Iran’s 2016 reform.

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What are academic incentives and how do they relate to policy and practice? Can incentives be aligned?

Check out today's article to learn about the different incentives in academia vs policy ⤵️

Brazil’s R&D subsidy programme spurred long-term growth by helping financially constrained companies adopt foreign technologies and expand into high-tariff markets through import substitution.

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Embrapa – a large public R&D effort to create agricultural innovation suited to Brazil’s ecology – shifted research toward local needs and raised agricultural productivity by 110%, far outweighing its costs.

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Public R&D and Brazil’s agricultural revolution It is often argued that returns to R&D are low in developing countries, making imported technologies a better path to growth. Yet technologies designed for frontier nations may not fit local condition...

The second (re-posted from @voxeu.org) discusses the long-term impact of Embrapa – a large public R&D effort in agricultural innovation suited to Brazil's unique environment that has been around since the 1970s. voxdev.org/topic/agricu...

From imports to imitation: How R&D subsidies drove industrial growth in Brazil Brazil’s R&D subsidy programme spurred long-term growth by helping financially constrained companies adopt foreign technologies and expand into high-tariff markets through import substitution.

The first is on how R&D subsidies enabled financially constrained firms to adopt foreign technologies, giving them a competitive edge in South American markets where, unlike foreign competitors, they did not face import tariffs. voxdev.org/topic/trade/...

We have two great articles on Brazilian public R&D programs on @voxdev.bsky.social today!🔬🚜

From imports to imitation: How R&D subsidies drove industrial growth in Brazil➡️ voxdev.org/topic/trade/...

Public R&D and Brazil’s agricultural revolution➡️ voxdev.org/topic/agricu...

See full thread below🧵

In El Salvador, extreme heat lowers agricultural productivity and rural incomes, pushing farmers – especially those with strong migrant networks – to use international migration as a climate adaptation strategy.

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Merit-based recruitment and higher pay in Chile’s public hospitals attracted better-trained managers – leading to lower mortality rates and improved healthcare performance.

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Evidence from Afghanistan suggests that development initiatives aimed at building state legitimacy can reduce violence when insurgencies are locally driven but may misallocate resources and even fuel conflict when insurgents are not reliant on local populations for support.

When people in developing countries believe their tax systems are fair and progressive, they are more willing to pay taxes.

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Short-term foreign currency borrowing is largely used for carry trade-like activities rather than financing productive investment, underscoring the need to focus on debt maturity and firm heterogeneity when designing policies to manage financial risk.

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In India, expanding deposit insurance coverage improved depositor welfare by reducing risk and encouraging a shift towards safer assets.

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What have we learned about training entrepreneurs?

Issue 4 of our VoxDevLit on Training Entrepreneurs by @dmckenzie.bsky.social, Christopher Woodruff & Co-Editors is out now!➡️ voxdev.org/voxdevlit/tr...

Today's podcast covers the update➡️ voxdev.org/topic/firms/...

Workers at exporting firms experience more rapid skill and productivity growth, especially when firms export to high-income destinations, thereby amplifying the overall gains from trade.

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Evidence from Brazil suggests that the crop-specific knowledge of domestic migrant farmers, during a period of large-scale migration, was a key driver of the recent transformation of the country’s export patterns.

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A national extension programme in Uganda raised farmers’ expectations and adoption of oilseed crops – revealing how beliefs, not just knowledge, drive agricultural transformation.

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This week in development economics at VoxDev: 31/10/2025 This week we featured research on poverty, discrimination, industrial cities and more!

This week we featured research on poverty, discrimination, industrial cities and more!

Read a summary of this work here: https://voxdev.org/topic/week-development-economics-voxdev-31102025

In Burkina Faso, input diversion from cotton to maize is widespread but ultimately lowers maize productivity, highlighting the need for broader input credit access and better resource allocation policies.

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