By Conner Mullally Many of us believe that studies following the “gold standard” of randomized assignment, such as those generated by academic labs in the hard sciences, are beyond reproach. According to Bruce Booth - a scientist turned venture capitalist - “the unspoken rule is that at least 50% of the studies published even in top tier academic journals – Science, Nature, … [Read more...] about Is economics research credible?
Cost Effectiveness: a new Guide for Health and Education
We have just published a new Guide, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Education and Health Interventions in Developing Countries written by Patrick McEwan, who teaches at Wellesley College. Cost effectiveness analysis is a straight-forward but hugely under-utilized tool. This paper reviews the framework and methods of cost-effectiveness analysis, emphasizing education and … [Read more...] about Cost Effectiveness: a new Guide for Health and Education
Inequality of opportunity: an emerging body of literature
By: Lucas Figal Garone Academia, general public and governments seem to understand inequality differently. While many in academia and in the public sector focus on the measurement of the distribution of certain outcomes – e.g. income or total consumption –, in the real world, people seem to care about opportunity: that all individuals have the same opportunities to … [Read more...] about Inequality of opportunity: an emerging body of literature
What is different about development assistance? A simple show of words…
A prevailing element of discussion leading to a consensus document at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Korea was how to bring China, Brazil and India into the post-Busan process. Throughout the meeting, the reality of the new development architecture was showcased. That is, traditional donors are still mired in a financial crisis that has restricted … [Read more...] about What is different about development assistance? A simple show of words…
Cement is good
I just finished reading a fascinating paper on the social impact of urban street paving in Mexico by Marco Gonzalez and Climent Quintana. A previous version of this paper had been presented at the Impact conference in Cuernavaca back in June 2011. It turns out that street paving – mostly with cement - has a significant impact on property values (+43%), land values (+54%) … [Read more...] about Cement is good