How does new evidence influence the beliefs of policymakers, and when do hidden

biases of beliefs lead to bad policy decisions? There is more rigorous empirical

evidence on which interventions work than ever. But that doesn’t translate into better

policy unless a policymaker acts on it. Eva Vivalt and Tim Phillips offer advice to

researchers on how to present their insights.

In both high- and low-income countries, taxes are the main source of government

revenue. They fund roads, schools, and social programmes. But the average tax-to-

GDP ratio in a developing country is less than half of the ratio in the global north.

Oyebola Okunogbe tells Tim Phillips about the innovative ways that many LMICs are

using to collect the taxes that will finance their growth.

Inequality is high in many LMICs, and progressive taxation is a policy tool that would reduce it. But would a personal income tax or a consumption tax redistribute in the same way as in a high-income country? Lucie Gadenne of Queen Mary University of London and the IFS tells Tim Phillips that one of these taxes may be less progressive, and one may be more progressive, than we expect.

In a world of economic nationalism rather than integration, the export-led pathway to

development that transformed China, Vietnam and other countries might no longer

be effective. Instead, Penny Goldberg tells Tim Phillips, policies for poverty reduction

now also need to answer the question of where demand will come from, and that

may require more emphasis on creating a domestic middle class.

Agriculture makes up a large share of employment and GDP in Africa, but crop yields remain stubbornly low. VoxDev has published Issue 2 of Agricultural Technology in Africa, which reviews what the published literature can – and cannot – explain about this stagnation. Chris Udry, one of the editors, tells Tim Phillips about the impact of this stagnation on living standards in Africa, and insights from recent research that can potentially make a difference.

Read the VoxDevLit: https://voxdev.org/voxdevlit/agricultural-technology-africa

How can we take what we learn in educational RCTs and apply it at scale to many

schools, maybe in many countries? Adrienne Lucas talks to Tim Phillips about the

project she was part of to improve learning in Ghana, the difference between small-

and large-scale trials, and the challenge of implementing policies results without

perfect compliance or daily monitoring.

In high-income countries, we take a reliable electricity supply for granted. But in parts

of the world where that reliable electricity supply isn’t available, what is the effect of

frequent power outages on employment? Justice Tei Mensah of The World Bank tells

Tim Phillips about how power cuts translate to job cuts.

In September 2022 António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, convened the Transforming Education Summit by telling education stakeholders from around the world that education is “beset by inequalities and struggling to adjust to the needs of the 21st century”. Their task: to tackle the global learning crisis by transforming their education systems. Robert Jenkins of UNICEF talks to Tim Phillips about the progress that has been made to solve what he calls “the global learning crisis”.

What determines how a war is fought, and who chooses to fight it? Eleonora Guarnieri of the University of Exeter talks to Tim Phillips about how cultural distance influences whether, and how, sexual violence is used as a weapon of war – and its role in civil conflict in Africa.

If you go to college in a low- or middle-income country (LMIC), how does it help you, and what do you get from it? Two questions that would seem to have obvious answers – but these questions may be more complicated for policymakers to answer than they seem. Jishnu Das tells Tim Phillips that “the demographic dividend seems to be turning into a demographic nightmare” – and what researchers and policymakers can do about it.