🆕 Why irrigation infrastructure projects are key to food security and climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa Abdoulaye Cisse, Alain de Janvry @natureatcal.bsky.social, @joelferguson.bsky.social, @marcogn.bsky.social, Samba Mbaye, Elisabeth Sadoulet & Mame Mor: voxdev.org/topic/agricu...

Why irrigation infrastructure projects are key to food security and climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa

Expanding irrigation infrastructure in Senegal led to significant and sustained increases in cultivation rates and reduced sensitivity to temperature shocks.

voxdev.org

Academics voting with their feet!

Florian Scheuer@florianscheuer.bsky.social · last yr.

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics. 🧵 1/7

Very happy that this paper with ARE colleagues (Alain de Janvry and Betty Sadoulet) and ARE alumni (Joel Ferguson and Abdoulaye Cisse) is now accepted at Journal of Development Economics! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Irrigation infrastructure and satellite-measured land cultivation impacts: Evidence from the Senegal river valley

Expanding irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa is widely viewed as a promising strategy for closing yield gaps and enhancing resilience to climate change.…

sciencedirect.com

“Irrigation infrastructure and satellite-measured land cultivation impacts: Evidence from the Senegal river valley” is now live at the JDE! I’m really proud of the work that my coauthors - Abdou, Alain, @marcogn.bsky.social, Samba, Betty, and Mame Mor - and I put into this. doi.org/10.1016/j.jd...

1./ At last! 🎉 After years in the making, my paper with Manuel Fernandez & @marcogn.bsky.social is out as an IZA Discussion Paper. We ask: Can better streets boost property tax compliance? 🚧💰 If so, why? We answer this with an RCT in Mexico + a model of tax compliance. docs.iza.org/dp18082.pdf

Loved the title of this opinion piece because its so true.

Ted Miguel@tedmiguel.bsky.social · last yr.

Nobel prize winner George Akerlof (my former colleague) on the firing of statistics officials: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/o...

Super interesting graph from NYT today on electric vehicle sales as a share of overall sales in multiple Asian countries. It's astonishing that Nepal is at more than 70% share given their GDP per capita of only $1,447 USD in 2024. In the meantime, in the U.S. we debate whether EVs are a thing...

I had a great time presenting at the Africa Evidence Summit 2025 in Nairobi! Fantastic conference to showcase African scholars and scholarship.

Center for Effective Global Action@cega-uc.bsky.social · last yr.

CEGA affiliated professor @marcogn.bsky.social‬ of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social presents new work from Senegal. #AES2025 Using satellites to measure the impact of irrigation, he finds "irrigation doesn’t just boost productivity—it also reduces vulnerability to climate change."

I wish everyone knew this....

Tatyana Deryugina@tderyugina.bsky.social · last yr.

Read more here: www.cbo.gov/system/files...

Alipio Ferreira's postdoc at J-PAL LAC armed him with invaluable skills in navigating policy enforcement and research design. Discover how this experience has prepared him for his role as an assistant professor, where he continues to explore impactful environmental policies. 🌿

Postdoc Spotlight: Alipio Ferreira, J-PAL '23, on his research journey at J-PAL LAC

In our new postdoc alumni spotlight series, we spoke with Alipio Ferreira, J-PAL '23, about his experience as a postdoctoral researcher at J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean.

povertyactionlab.org

So happy to be visiting Berkeley ARE alumni Wei Lin and Qingyang Huang at Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen! Great campus and faculty.

The call for Ph.D. students interested in participating in this year's Urban Economics Association Summer School 2025 at Tufts University is now open. Application deadline is May 15. urbaneconomics.org/workshops/su... Great opportunity to meet other young scholars interested in urban economics

Congratulations Joel! So proud of all of your achievements!

Joel Ferguson@joelferguson.bsky.social · 2y ago

I’m super excited to share that this fall I’ll join the faculty of University of Wisconsin in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies! Special thanks to @marcogn.bsky.social @tedmiguel.bsky.social and Sol Hsiang for all their support throughout my PhD/postdoc and the job search

Joined my colleagues today @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social to Stand up for Science! Saw speeches by campus leaders @tedmiguel.bsky.social and @jenniferdoudna.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social

📉📈 Excited to attend the 9th Zurich Conference on Public Finance in Developing Countries next week! I’ll present my work with Manuel Fernandez & @marcogn.bsky.social: "Local Public Goods and Property Tax Compliance: Evidence from Residential Street Pavement" #PublicFinance #DevelopmentEconomics

I believe these types of programs can be used after natural disasters to incentivize moving to less risky areas, or to move people away from areas that will experience negative shocks from climate change. This paper is very informative about takeup and usage patterns.

Ted Miguel@tedmiguel.bsky.social · 2y ago

Great new JM paper by our student Gwyneth Miner - check out the WB blog post:

Very happy to see the World Bank Development Impact blog covering UC-Berkeley JMC Gwyneth Miner's JMP on how to encourage migration in a developing country setting. This tool will become ever more important in the policy toolkit move people to opportunity blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

Are uncertain urban labor markets deterring internal migration? Evidence from a field experiment in Kenya: Guest post by Gwyneth Miner

blogs.worldbank.org