by Leopoldo Fergusson* and Juan F. Vargas** Democracy and conflict: a hard question Civil conflict is one of the major threats to long-run economic development, and causes enormous human suffering. However, we still do not have a clear understanding of the factors that exacerbate or help mitigate the risk of conflict and, in particular, about the role of democracy in … [Read more...] about Don’t make war, make elections
What does and doesn't work in development
Go to school, but only if it is a good one
In early May I attended a conference on Skills, Education and Labor Market Outcomes at the University of Maryland. Five papers were presented discussing investments in human capital, its effects and mechanisms through which these investments provide returns later in the labor market. A link to the papers and information on the conference can be found here. This research … [Read more...] about Go to school, but only if it is a good one
Where the wild beasts are (and attack randomly)
As you sit in front of your screen, the thought of wild dangerous beasts in faraway places may sound quaint and take you to another era when Sandokan fought off ferocious felines or to the protection of innocence in the Life of Pi. But less cinematic beasts such as wild boars can inflict significant economic hardship on poor farmers. … [Read more...] about Where the wild beasts are (and attack randomly)
CCTs: not the silver bullet, but with long lasting positive effects
Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) were a major social policy innovation in the mid/late 1990s. Instead of providing generalized subsidies, using price controls, and/or directly distributing food as means to help the poor (instruments that are inefficient, distort markets and in general are regressive), governments began to transfer cash directly to the poorest families, … [Read more...] about CCTs: not the silver bullet, but with long lasting positive effects
Incentives in education
Participants and researchers interested on education held a session to discuss evidence on incentive schemes in education at the International workshop on Surveys and Impact Evaluation (#Taller_EEIPP) workshop taking place in Santiago. A fundamental question in education is how to introduce incentives for teachers to improve student outcomes. The teacher is the … [Read more...] about Incentives in education