David McKenzie

Weekly links January 23: communication as a key research tool, Indian firms vs Chinese competition, doing TA well, and more…

This week's links include the increasing importance of communicating research as grants move from the federal govt to other funders, Indian firms vs Chinese competition, do an RCT in Barbados, do TA well, and more... blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

Weekly links January 16. 2026: sports betting economics, small firms and volatility, macro credibility? And more…

This week's links include the growth of sports betting in Africa, how small firms deal with volatility, the macro/micro convergence of credibility, a @voxdev.bsky.social lit on migration, and more... blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

Check out our new VoxDevLit on International Migration! Thanks to co-editors @catiabatista.bsky.social, @econgaurav.bsky.social, @dmckenzie.bsky.social, @mushfiq-econ.bsky.social, & Caroline Theoharides!
We look to working together on this "living literature review" in the years to come...

Should I wait or should I sell? The impact of market information and commercialization advice on farmers’ sales decisions. Guest post by Guilio Schinaia

The last in our JMP blog series has Guilio Schinaia with a 2-stage clustered RCT to see how market advisory information affects decisions of cashew farmers in Guinea-Bissau. Information increases farmer revenue, as they make more transactions & get better prices
blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

1. Less skilled labor is abundant. 2. Skilled emigration is a brain drain. 3. Development substitutes for migration. 4. Migration substitutes for failing development, but doesn't cause development.

The International Monetary Fund asked me to review the literature on migration economics to draw lessons for low-income countries.

In a new @iza.org paper, I argue that policy for the 21st century must discard four outdated ideas.

www.iza.org/publications...

🧵 thread—>

Is the learning crisis partly a motivation crisis? Guest post by Ridwan Hossain.

In our penultimate JMP blog, @ridwanhossain.bsky.social looks at how pecuniary & non-pecuniary rewards affect exam performance. All rewards boosted scores, with $ biggest. Results suggest low-stakes tests underestimate true learning. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Technology of liberation or control? The political impacts of social media. Guest post by Alexander Fertig

In today's JMP blog, how does social media affect political conflict? Alexander Fertig uses an event study in Myanmar to show when internet freedoms were eroded, the relationship between access & political protest disappeared. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

One last (sobering) update on the #EconJobMarket before the winter holidays; data as of 2025-12-14.
In terms of # of job listings on Job Openings for Economists (JOE), this is the worst job mkt in recent yrs for PhD Economists. # jobs down 20% from last yr, even 18.9% lower than during COVID (2020).

Transparency without reach? Lessons from India’s largest transparency initiative. Guest post by Pallavi Prabhakar

In today's JMP blog, Pallavi Prabhakar uses an RCT to look at the impact of India's aspirational district program. Learning that one’s district performs worse than its peers increased individual & collective citizen participation blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Navigating risky jobs: Why married couples choose the same employer in urban India. Guest post by Shreya Tandon

In today's JMP blog, Shreya Tandon documents that married women often work in the same garment firm in India as their husband. 3 field experiments explore why - evidence seems to be to protect women from risk of unsuitable workplaces blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

With women in medicine, medical research starts asking different questions. Guest post by Fatima Aqeel

In today's JMP blog, Fatima Aqeel uses a reform in Pakistan that lifted a cap on the share of women in medical schools to show how more women in medicine changes medical research. Result was more work on female-focused health, from both women and men blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

When gender quotas protect the powerful: Lessons from China’s civil service. Guest post by Jiawei Lyu

In today's JMP blog, @jiaweilyu.bsky.social studies impact of affirmative action for men in China's civil service. Women outperform men in the entry exam, so quotas were introduced to balance gender. Fewer women were hired, quality declined, & tax collected fell. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Consensus or polarization in environmental action? How local leader incentives shape the power of information. Guest post by Chiman Cheung

In today's JMP blog, Chiman Cheung looks at how local leader incentives & public vs leader only info affect collective action against environmental threats with an experiment around information on the risks of mercury from artisanal mining of gold in Ghana blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

When spousal jealousy keeps women out of work

In today's JMP blog, @krajah123.bsky.social conducts experiments in India to show how spousal jealousy affects female labor force participation: women are more likely to take up work in women-only office & greater impacts for those with more jealous husbands blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Building Trust and Transparency via Text Message: How Digital Receipts Change Smallholder Markets. Guest post by Pedro Magaña Sáenz

In today's JMP blog, @pmasae.bsky.social looks at what happens to Ugandan dairy farmers when they start getting digital receipts for milk deliveries. Receipts discipline transporters and milk quality improves, while acting as behavioral nudge for self-deliverers blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Following the tracks: How digital monitoring expands access to mechanization in agriculture. Guest post by Sophie Nottmeyer

I missed us posting a JMP blog last week by Sophie Nottmeyer which looks at how a GPS tracking app for tractors allows owners to monitor better, expanding the distance they rent at, helping farmers mechanize and increase productivity. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

How Do Opportunities Shape Aspirational Responses? Experimental Evidence from Solar Electrification in Rural Myanmar We are excited to launch our Job Market Paper Series blog for 2025-2026, beginning with our very first blog post by Ferran Vega-Car…

To kick things off for our 2025 Job Market Paper series, Ferran Vega-Carol writes about his JMP about Solar Electrification in Rural Myanmar.

Check it out: www.econthatmatters.com/2025/12/how-...

#JMP #Econsky #ETRM

Do uncoordinated flood loss mitigation investments produce spillovers? Guest post by Molly Doruska

In today's JMP, Molly Doruska looks at how to protect firms in Dakar from flooding. Individual subsidies had negative spillovers on other firms as water diverted, but combining subsidies with community meeting reduced flood losses without negative spillovers blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Discretion and Capture: How Politics Shapes Pollution Enforcement in India. Guest post by Sanjana Ghosh

In today's JMP, @sanjanagh1.bsky.social looks at how changes in who is in power shapes regulatory discretion over pollution enforcement in the sugar industry. The same regulatory capacity leads to very different outcomes depending on who is in power.
blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Can Better Seeds Clear the Air? How India Can Fight Pollution Through Smarter Farming

Air pollution from crops burning is a huge problem in India. Today's JMP blog by Piyush Gandhi shows how subsidizing & training farmers to take-up a new early maturity seed has big benefits in reducing crop burning and pollution. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Beyond sinking sand: How housing markets respond to an environmental hazard in Mexico City

Mexico City is sinking. Today's JMP blog by Lucy Hackett looks at how the housing market is responding. Sinking lowers prices. Information frictions lead to an oversupply of houses in risky places, and prices don't predict the likelihood of future sinking. blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

A framework for social network interventions in contentious and conflictual settings. Guest post by Nilmini Herath

Should policy actors deliberately expose people to diverse viewpoints or might backlash worsen divisions? This JMP blog by Nilmini Herath provides theory on how to do social network interventions depending on how people aggregate opinions & on network structure blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Enforcement Matters: How Nigeria’s Sharia Reform Created Winners and Losers: Guest Post by Hardi Ahmed

In today's JMP blog, @hardiahmed.bsky.social uses DiD to show how sharia law reform in Northern Nigeria affected child health and fertility, and how this varies with enforcement intensity. Weak enforcement of child protection laws particularly harmed non-muslims blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

🚨 New working paper!

How well do people predict the results of studies?

@sdellavi.bsky.social and I leverage data from the first 100 studies to have been posted on the SSPP, containing 1,482 key questions, on which over 50,000 forecasts were placed. Some surprising results below.... 🧵👇

Planning for Which Future? Searching for Jobs While Running a Business: Guest post by Adrien Dautheville

In today's JMP blog, @adautheville.bsky.social finds that many Tanzanian microentrepreneurs are actively searching for jobs while running their businesses, which is correlated with lower profits and less investment. An information intervention has limited effect
blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Scaling short days: Even limited childcare can transform family labor. Guest post by Dyah Pritadrajati

In today's JMP blog, @economiyaki.bsky.social shows how even 3 hours/day of kindergarten in Indonesia is enough to increase women's employment (by 13 p.p.) & does not crowd out care offered by relatives blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Expecting the worst: Household bargaining and the suppression of women’s work in India. Guest blog by Andrea Smurra

How do men's expectations about how a job will affect their wife's share of consumption affect female labor force participation? Today's JMP blog by @andreasmurra.bsky.social conducts an experiment in India to show women's work take-up depends on husbands beliefs blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Why would employees work harder when firms don’t pay their wages? Guest blog by Daniel Sonnenstuhl

In Nigeria, 30% of workers experience delays receiving their wages. In today's JMP, Daniel Sonnenstuhl runs an RCT and find workers work harder when faced by delayed pay - but making pay reliable increases willingness to accept job offers blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?

Reminder, last couple of weeks to get your papers in for a special issue of the WBER on migration and development.

Should firms subsidize worker-owned capital? Experimental evidence from India's platform Economy. Guest post by Shreya Sarkar

In today's JMP, @shreyasarkar.bsky.social asks whether it is worthwhile for firms to subsidize worker-owned capital. An experiment subsidizing down payments on scooters to allow mobile salon gig workers to travel faster/further says yes: gains for worker & firm blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...?