VoxDev

Electricity clearly improves people’s quality of life. But in Rwanda, even one decade after communities were connected, rural electrification had limited effects on incomes, employment, and broader economic development.

Read today's article to learn more:

In Bangladesh’s garment sector, firms often under-promote women because of biased beliefs and distorted learning about women’s managerial ability. However, temporary, low-risk trials can correct these beliefs and lead to sustained increases in female supervisors.

Read today's article to learn more:

Rural electrification a decade on: A dose of reality from Rwanda Electricity clearly improves people’s quality of life. But in Rwanda, even one decade after communities were connected, rural electrification had limited effects on incomes, employment, and broader economic development.

🆕 Rural electrification a decade on: A dose of reality from Rwanda

Today on VoxDev, Lise Masselus (RWI Leibniz-Institut), Jörg Ankel-Peters (Passau), Anicet Munyehirwe (IB&C Rwanda) & Maximiliane Sievert discuss the limited effects of rural electrificiation in Rwanda: https://ow.ly/3v3z50Y9cyt

Why firms under-promote women – and how experimentation can fix it In Bangladesh’s garment sector, firms often under-promote women because of biased beliefs and distorted learning about women’s managerial ability. However, temporary, low-risk trials can correct these...

🆕 Why firms under-promote women – and how experimentation can fix it

Today on VoxDev, Rocco Macchiavello (LSE), @amenzelecon.bsky.social (Padova), @atonurabbani.bsky.social (Dhaka) & Chris Woodruff (Oxford) discuss correcting beliefs on female managers in Bangladesh: voxdev.org/topic/labour...

New post on @voxdev.bsky.social about our long-term study of rural electrification in Rwanda. We revisited villages connected to the grid ~10 years ago. Modest short-term impacts persist—but adoption remains extremely low. voxdev.org/topic/energy...

Rural electrification a decade on: A dose of reality from Rwanda Electricity clearly improves people’s quality of life. But in Rwanda, even one decade after communities were connected, rural electrification had limited effects on incomes, employment, and broader economic development.

🆕 Rural electrification a decade on: A dose of reality from Rwanda

Today on VoxDev, Lise Masselus (RWI Leibniz-Institut), Jörg Ankel-Peters (Passau), Anicet Munyehirwe (IB&C Rwanda) & Maximiliane Sievert discuss the limited effects of rural electrificiation in Rwanda: https://ow.ly/3v3z50Y9cyt

Why firms under-promote women – and how experimentation can fix it In Bangladesh’s garment sector, firms often under-promote women because of biased beliefs and distorted learning about women’s managerial ability. However, temporary, low-risk trials can correct these...

🆕 Why firms under-promote women – and how experimentation can fix it

Today on VoxDev, Rocco Macchiavello (LSE), @amenzelecon.bsky.social (Padova), @atonurabbani.bsky.social (Dhaka) & Chris Woodruff (Oxford) discuss correcting beliefs on female managers in Bangladesh: voxdev.org/topic/labour...

YouTube video by VoxDev Will AI be like the industrial revolution?

🆕 Is the industrial revolution a good comparison for AI?

If you’ve been paying attention to the AI debate, you’ve probably heard this comparison come up a lot.

But what does it actually mean? @deenamousa.com and I are joined by Bruno Caprettini to discuss: youtu.be/AfnLk_bSDy8?...

YouTube video by VoxDev Do public works programmes work?

Watch the full video here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8g...

How can public works reduce poverty beyond short-term jobs?

Manisha Shah (@natureatcal.bsky.social) studies India’s massive rural employment programme, showing how infrastructure, wages and even satellite night-time lights reveal economy-wide effects – and why context really matters.

Link below⤵️

Mobile money taxes raise transaction costs and reduce usage, creating sizable efficiency losses – the burden falls disproportionately on unbanked and rural users.

Read today's article to learn more:

Why taxing mobile money can backfire Mobile money taxes raise transaction costs and reduce usage, creating sizable efficiency losses – the burden falls disproportionately on unbanked and rural users.

🆕 Why taxing mobile money can backfire

Today on VoxDev, Michael Barczay (IMF), Shafik Hebous, Fayçal Sawadogo & Jean François Wen discuss how mobile money taxes create sizeable efficiency losses, which fall disproportionately on unbanked and rural users: https://ow.ly/xWVY50Y8Fn1

🆕 Gender inequality in labour markets: Why growth and education are not enough 📢

Today on VoxDevTalks w/ Barbara Petrongolo (@oxfordecondept.bsky.social) & @ashwinideshpande.bsky.social (Ashoka University @lseinequalities.bsky.social).

Link below ⤵️

Why taxing mobile money can backfire Mobile money taxes raise transaction costs and reduce usage, creating sizable efficiency losses – the burden falls disproportionately on unbanked and rural users.

🆕 Why taxing mobile money can backfire

Today on VoxDev, Michael Barczay (IMF), Shafik Hebous, Fayçal Sawadogo & Jean François Wen discuss how mobile money taxes create sizeable efficiency losses, which fall disproportionately on unbanked and rural users: https://ow.ly/xWVY50Y8Fn1

Gender inequality in labour markets: Why growth and education are not enough Gender inequality in labour markets persists across rich and poor countries despite gains in education and legal rights, with women continuing to earn less, work under more constrained conditions, and...

Listen here: voxdev.org/topic/labour...

🆕 Gender inequality in labour markets: Why growth and education are not enough 📢

Today on VoxDevTalks w/ Barbara Petrongolo (@oxfordecondept.bsky.social) & @ashwinideshpande.bsky.social (Ashoka University @lseinequalities.bsky.social).

Link below ⤵️

Compulsory military service in Argentina strengthened national identity and social integration in the long run, but had no meaningful effect on civic behaviour, institutional trust, or broader socio-economic outcomes.

Read today's article to learn more:

While policy measures including higher prices and usage restrictions saved Cape Town from running out of water, they reduced demand more among wealthy households who were able to substitute away from municipal water.

Read today's article to learn more:

YouTube video by VoxDev Economists vs Technologists on AI

🆕 Economists vs Technologists on AI

In this episode, @deenamousa.com & I think through why economists sound so different to technologists when discussing AI.

And we preview what we'll cover over the rest of our series on AI @voxdev.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bvr...

Avoiding day zero: Drought and water pricing in South Africa A growing number of urban areas around the world face water scarcity. Focusing on the prolonged drought that Cape Town experienced from 2015 to 2018, this column examines how adaptation shaped outcomes for the city’s residents and for its municipal water utility. While policy measures including higher prices and usage restrictions saved the city from running out of water, they reduced demand more among wealthy households who were able to substitute away from municipal water, undermining the utility’s ability to cross-subsidise lower-income households’ consumption. Post-drought tariff...

🆕 Avoiding day zero: Drought and water pricing in South Africa

Today on VoxDev (via VoxEU @ CEPR) w/ Alexander Abajian (Yale), Cassandra Cole (Harvard), Kelsey Jack (UC Berkeley), Kyle Meng (UCSB) & Martine Visser (University of Cape Town): https://ow.ly/8fnv50Y8368

Does mandatory military service build nations? Compulsory military service in Argentina strengthened national identity and social integration in the long run, but had no meaningful effect on civic behaviour, institutional trust, or broader socio-economic outcomes, demonstrating that nation-building through shared service does not automatically translate into stronger civic engagement or state capacity.

🆕 Does mandatory military service build nations?

Today on VoxDev, Juan Pedro Ronconi (Universidad de los Andes) & Diego Ramos-Toro (Dartmouth College) discuss how compulsory military service in Argentina strengthened national identity but had no effect on civic behaviour: https://ow.ly/K8JJ50Y81M0

Avoiding day zero: Drought and water pricing in South Africa A growing number of urban areas around the world face water scarcity. Focusing on the prolonged drought that Cape Town experienced from 2015 to 2018, this column examines how adaptation shaped outcomes for the city’s residents and for its municipal water utility. While policy measures including higher prices and usage restrictions saved the city from running out of water, they reduced demand more among wealthy households who were able to substitute away from municipal water, undermining the utility’s ability to cross-subsidise lower-income households’ consumption. Post-drought tariff...

🆕 Avoiding day zero: Drought and water pricing in South Africa

Today on VoxDev (via VoxEU @ CEPR) w/ Alexander Abajian (Yale), Cassandra Cole (Harvard), Kelsey Jack (UC Berkeley), Kyle Meng (UCSB) & Martine Visser (University of Cape Town): https://ow.ly/8fnv50Y8368

Does mandatory military service build nations? Compulsory military service in Argentina strengthened national identity and social integration in the long run, but had no meaningful effect on civic behaviour, institutional trust, or broader socio-economic outcomes, demonstrating that nation-building through shared service does not automatically translate into stronger civic engagement or state capacity.

🆕 Does mandatory military service build nations?

Today on VoxDev, Juan Pedro Ronconi (Universidad de los Andes) & Diego Ramos-Toro (Dartmouth College) discuss how compulsory military service in Argentina strengthened national identity but had no effect on civic behaviour: https://ow.ly/K8JJ50Y81M0

🆕 Do public works programmes work?

In this episode of Economics Unpacked, Manisha Shah (UC Berkeley) and Simon Franklin (QMUL) discuss NREGA in India, and PSNP in Ethiopia.

🔗 Link below ⤵️

Cool to see @voxdev.bsky.social continuing to grow.

Our goals are a lot more than just website views, but still, I think this trend reflects our growing impact overall.

And we are always trying to gather examples of how people use VoxDev, so please email them to me!

Many thanks to @voxdev.bsky.social for featuring our work on education and inequality in Colombia.

We explore how historical hierarchies persist through school sorting, reinforcing both educational and social advantages across generations.

Please read and comment!

What does a surname say about opportunity? Our research finds that students from historically marginalized backgrounds are systematically sorted into lower-quality schools, while those fromo colonial and republican elites cluster in top institutions which creates a double persistence in advantage.

Using surnames, we show that colonial-era hierarchies continue to shape access to Colombia’s best schools and elite social networks, limiting intergenerational mobility through both education and marriage.

Read today's article to learn more:

YouTube video by VoxDev Do public works programmes work?

Watch the full video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b8g...

🆕 Do public works programmes work?

In this episode of Economics Unpacked, Manisha Shah (UC Berkeley) and Simon Franklin (QMUL) discuss NREGA in India, and PSNP in Ethiopia.

🔗 Link below ⤵️