A few weeks ago, I published a blog post on some of the unsettling implications of this paper that suggested that some interventions lose their punch when done by public agencies. One of the takeaways was the need to “go up the bureaucratic supply chain” as nicely put by Justin Sandefur in a tweet on the post. In other words, the need to jump over the “challenge of … [Read more...] about 3 good examples of the impact of impact evaluations
8 qualities of good economists
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