VoxDev Development Economics

Where does electricity come from? In developing countries, the power sector uses
long-term, rigid contracts called power purchase agreements (PPAs) between a
private generator and government-owned utilities. These PPAs are not usually
competitive, their terms – including payment guarantees by which suppliers get paid
even when there is no demand – are often secret, they can last for up to 30 years,
and they guarantee the use of fossil fuels far into the future. Sugandha Srivastav
tells Tim Phillips about how the privatisation of electricity generation has created a
way to move money “from the public coffers to vested interests”.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/why-pakistan-locked-overpriced-and-environmentally-damaging-power-sector

Can better data analysis improve the way that a government functions. The
Government Analytics Handbook, published by the World Bank, is both a practical
how-to guide and a fascinating insight into how administrators can improve the
quality of government analytics. Daniel Rogger and Christian Schuster are the
editors. They talk to Tim Phillips about the challenges, the potential – and their work
to create a community of analysts.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/public-economics/how-government-analytics-can-improve-public-sector-implementation

As cities grow and spread, the uses to which land is put, and the value of that land,
will also change. The challenges of urban planning, construction and renewal are
complicated. But the way we address those challenges has profound impacts for the
people who live, and will live, in that physical city. Vernon Henderson and Maisy
Wong of University of Pennsylvania explain to Tim Phillips how cities adapt, change
and grow – and how that affects the lives and prospects of the people who live in
them.

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and so it has never been
more important to increase the resilience of small-scale farmers. What does
research tell us are the most effective interventions and policies to do this? In the
latest of our special episodes to discuss J-PAL policy insights, Tavneet Suri talks to
Tim Phillips about how we can strengthen the resilience of farmers to climate
change.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/financing-climate-adaptation-what-works-what-doesnt-and-can-carbon-credits

In the first episode of a regular collaboration between Yale's Economic Growth
Center and VoxDev, host Catherine Cheney speaks to Catherine Wolfram and
Namrata Kala of the MIT Sloan School, and Rohini Pande of Yale, about how to
finance climate adaptation. They discuss what works and what doesn't, what role
carbon markets play, and also discuss the upcoming United Nations Climate
Change Summit, COP 29.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/energy-environment/financing-climate-adaptation-what-works-what-doesnt-and-can-carbon-credits

If you go to the IGC web site, you will discover the BREAD-IGC virtual PhD-level
course in economics. The topic for 2024 is urbanisation and the economics of cities
in low and middle-income countries. Ed Glaeser and Diego Puga gave the first talk,
about the dynamic city. They talk to Tim Phillips about what attracts people to cities,
how those cities constantly change and adapt to the needs of those new arrivals,
and the urgent need for research into how cities grow and change outside high-
income countries.

Read the full show notes on VoxDev: https://voxdev.org/topic/migration-urbanisation/role-cities-economic-development

Institutions help to determine economic growth. But studying how they do this using
the rigorous experimental techniques popularised in the credibility revolution is
difficult. A new review highlights an exciting new wave of empirical research into the
consequences of institutional change. Michael Callen and Jonathan Weigel talk to
Tim Phillips about how we can do experiments about institutions.

Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/can-we-use-experiments-understand-institutions

A new open access textbook called Food Economics analyses the connections
between agriculture and resource use, commodity trade, food businesses, and retail
markets. It covers how food is produced, brought to market, and sold. But it also
looks at consumption: why many have too little food, and the problems caused by
malnutrition. Will Masters and Amelia Finaret, the authors, tell Tim Phillips who is it
for, and what they can learn.

Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/agriculture/what-can-we-learn-food-economics

Small businesses in LMICs provide most of the employment. But they could provide
many more jobs if the best of them could unlock their potential to grow. In the latest
of our series of VoxDev Talks based on J-PAL special reports, Tim Phillips talks to
David Atkin about how we can do a better job of connecting firms and entrepreneurs
to markets.

Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/firms/how-connecting-firms-markets-can-promote-economic-development

More children than ever in LMICs go to school – but they still don’t learn as much as
we would want, and the difference between the educational haves and the have-nots
is widening. Noam Angrist joins Tim Phillips to talk about the size of the gap between
education policy and practice, why it exists, why economic development alone isn’t
closing it, and how we can improve policy implementation in future.

Read the full show notes here: https://voxdev.org/topic/education/gap-between-education-policy-and-practice