Alfred Marshal regarded himself as “a wanderer in the land of dry facts; looking forward to a speedy return to the luxuriance of pure thought.” Keynes, in his 1924 Economic Journal obituary, (ungated here) thought that Marshall combined “the most essential and fundamental of the economist's necessary gifts-he was conspicuously historian and mathematician, a dealer in the … [Read more...] about 8 qualities of good economists
Crowdsourcing development data
By Alejandra Luzardo* "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change." Charles Darwin Data collection in development projects has been impacted by the new crowdsourcing trends. With its emergence a new door opens to generate ideas and develop projects using what some call collective … [Read more...] about Crowdsourcing development data
Three starting points to understand education quality
I recently came across the question: if I was going to identify the main determinants of low quality of education in a given population, where would I start? Asking education system stakeholders involves capturing perceptions that may respond to group interests that do not necessarily provide an answer. Ideally, one would let the data lead to an answer. After spending much … [Read more...] about Three starting points to understand education quality
One Laptop per Child revisited
This is joint post with Julian Cristiá, Ana Santiago and Eugenio Severín; members of the IDB team that developed the OLPC evaluation trial in Peru. Last March we published a post (also here) with the results of the first randomized impact evaluation of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) model in Peru, which has been widely discussed in the technology and education blogosphere … [Read more...] about One Laptop per Child revisited
Simulation models in tourism projects
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, travel and tourism sustains more jobs than financial services, communications, mining, automotive and chemicals manufacturing industries across every region of the world. In areas such as the Caribbean, tourism represents 41% of goods and services total exports. Its potential is promising to many: some consider that tourism … [Read more...] about Simulation models in tourism projects