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VoxDev@voxdev.bsky.social · last wk.

A new theoretical framework provides guidance about when adjusting for multiple hypothesis testing is likely to lead to better decisions – and when it might go too far and lead to policy mistakes instead. Read today's article to learn more:

🆕 Rethinking multiple hypothesis testing: A welfare-based approach Today on VoxDev w/ @vivianodavide.bsky.social (@harvard.edu), Kaspar Wuthrich (@umich.edu) & Paul Niehaus (@gpsucsd.bsky.social): voxdev.org/topic/method...

🆕 How AI can put 20 years of development evidence to work 📢 Today on VoxDevTalks, Iqbal Dhaliwal (J-PAL) discusses why AI's real value in development lies in grafting it onto decades of evidence about what improves lives: https://ow.ly/eGu150Zu6gs

VoxDev@voxdev.bsky.social · last wk.

India's 1980s rural bank branch expansion only had modest effects on average agricultural output, but it substantially reduced farmers' vulnerability to adverse rainfall shocks, largely by helping them sustain irrigation.

Response to a negative rainfall shock under two bank growth scenarios

🆕 Can bank access help farmers weather climate shocks? Today on VoxDev, Liang Bai (King's College London), Camille Boudot-Reddy (Birkbeck, University of London) & André Butler (ICF) outline research on climate adaptation and financial access in India: https://ow.ly/72qR50ZtJRT

The birth of Bangladesh: How the Bhola cyclone fostered revolution

YouTube video by VoxDev

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What happens when the informal sector isn't taken into account in policymaking? In our most recent episode of Economics Unpacked, @gulyssea.bsky.social illustrates this using minimum wage as an example. Link below ⤵️

🆕 The informal sector: Why some economies are almost entirely hidden 📢 Today on VoxDevTalks, @gulyssea.bsky.social (@ucl.ac.uk) explains why informality is so widespread in developing countries, and how it affects economic growth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XkM...

College students in sub-Saharan Africa can be as food insecure as the ultra-poor, but modest financial support may yield large returns for wellbeing.

🆕 How financial aid could transform student welfare in sub-Saharan Africa Today on VoxDev, Natalie Bau (UCLA), Corinne Low (Wharton School), Simona Simona (University of Zambia) & Bryce Steinberg (Watson School at Brown) outline research on Zambia: https://ow.ly/8E5z50ZsbV3

This week we featured research on agricultural advice, forecasting, formalisation and more! You can read a summary of this work here: https://voxdev.org/topic/week-development-economics-voxdev-24072026

This week in development economics at VoxDev: 24/07/2026

This week we featured research on agricultural advice, forecasting, formalisation and more!

voxdev.org

A 2015 documentary exposing China's air pollution led to measurable declines in land transaction value and area in more-exposed Chinese cities, as residents reconsidered where to live. The effect was strongest in cities reliant on land-based finance and for lower-quality, peripheral land parcels.

The dynamic effects on land transaction (IV results)

🆕 How an environmental documentary reshaped China’s land markets Today on VoxDev, Wei Zou (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law) & Pinghan Liang (Sun Yat-Sen University) discuss the impact of China's viral 2015 air pollution documentary on land transactions: https://ow.ly/rNe350ZrTAp

When tax enforcement depends on geography, firms may choose to locate where taxes are easier to evade rather than where they are most productive. A Chinese reform that standardised VAT enforcement across rugged and flatter counties reduced this misallocation.

Impact of GTP on effective VAT rate (rugged vs. flatter counties)

🆕 Can better tax enforcement boost productivity? Today on VoxDev, Yu Liu (Fudan University) & Xiaoxue Zhao (Wesleyan University) discuss VAT enforcement reforms in China: https://voxdev.org/topic/public-economics/can-better-tax-enforcement-boost-productivity

How can informal housing trap people in a cycle of poverty? @gulyssea.bsky.social explains in this week's episode of Economics Unpacked Link below⤵️

By making formalisation cheaper and easier, Brazil’s MEI programme helped millions of microentrepreneurs register – but delivered little in higher earnings, functioning instead as a subsidised expansion of social security access at a net fiscal cost.

🆕 Does making formality less costly actually pay off? Today on VoxDev, Alison Farias (The University of Southern California) & Roberto Hsu Rocha (NOVAFRICA) discuss Brazil’s Microempreendedor Individual (MEI) programme: https://ow.ly/5i6P50ZrgKi

🆕 Why businesses stay small in emerging markets 📢 Today on VoxDevTalks, Marcela Eslava (Universidad de Los Andes) discusses why firms in developing economies stay small – pointing to regulatory hurdles, credit constraints, and measurement challenges: https://ow.ly/qFBw50ZrfQj

In rural India, language barriers restrict farmers' access to digital agricultural advice, hindering technology adoption and reducing crop yields.

🆕 Do language barriers hold back agricultural development? Today on VoxDev, Apoorv Gupta (Dartmouth), Jacopo Ponticelli (NU) & Andrea Teseit (Queen Mary University of London) discuss the economic impact of language barriers in India's agricultural communities: https://ow.ly/HycK50ZqzJa

The informal sector: Why some economies are almost entirely hidden

YouTube video by VoxDev

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Evidence from 100 Social Science Prediction Platform projects shows that research forecasts are too optimistic on average, but still predictive enough to improve study design when they are combined, shrunk, and weighted carefully. Read today's article to learn more:

VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 3w ago

🆕 Can forecasting social science make experiments better? Today on VoxDev, Stefano DellaVigna (UC Berkeley) &Eva Vivalt (University of Toronto) discuss why research forecasts overestimate effects, and how to correct and reweight them: https://ow.ly/jfjL50ZpWlv

Parallel governance institutions built by Maoist rebels during Nepal's civil war led to lasting improvements in political participation among historically excluded groups, more representative candidate selection across parties, and greater local government capacity. Read today's article:

VoxDev@voxdev.bsky.social · 3w ago

🆕 How rebel governance helped build inclusive democracy in Nepal Today on VoxDev w/ Bhishma K. Bhusal, Michael Callen (LSE), Rohini Pande (Yale Department of Economics), Soledad Artiz Prillaman (Stanford), Deepak Singhania (IIT Gandhinagar) & Apurva Subedi: https://ow.ly/ZTGq50Zneu3

VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 3w ago

🆕 China's economy: 150 years of growth in 10 minutes Today on VoxDevTalks, Hanwei Huang (City University of Hong Kong) explains how China moved from a closed, self-sufficient economy to the world's largest trading nation over 150 years: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh5o...

China's economy: 150 years of growth in 10 minutes

YouTube video by VoxDev

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VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 3w ago

Evidence from village elections in Indonesia shows that changes in leadership improve information flows between citizens and the state, revitalise bureaucracies, and improve public service delivery.

VoxDev@voxdev.bsky.social · 3w ago

🆕 Can voting out leaders improve local service delivery? Today on VoxDev, Samuel Bazzi (UCSD), Masyhur Hilmy (UNSW), Benjamin Marx (Boston University), Mahvish Shaukat (WB) & Andreas Stegmann (University of Münster) discuss evidence on village elections in Indonesia: https://ow.ly/BQxy50ZmNUQ

Emaan Siddique @emaansiddique.bsky.social · 3w ago

I've recently started making short-form videos based on @voxdev.bsky.social articles that tell a particularly interesting story Here's one I put out last week on why so many women in Africa are converting to Christianity, based on work by @p-alvarez-aragon.bsky.social, C Guirkinger & J Platteau

A long-run study tracking students nine years after a school financial education programme finds lasting reductions in expensive credit use, improved loan repayment and a shift towards entrepreneurship. This suggests that well-designed curricula can reshape both financial and occupational decisions.

Long-term effects of school financial education on credit usage

🆕 Does school financial education shape real-world behaviour? Today on VoxDev, Miriam Bruhn (World Bank), Gabriel Garber (Central Bank of Brazil), Bilal Zia (Duolingo ) & Sérgio Mikio Koyama discuss the long-run impacts of financial education in Brazil: https://ow.ly/xGKz50ZlXSR

Evidence from a randomised evaluation in Mexico shows that an AI-powered mental health app can improve mental health, daily functioning, and labour market outcomes, while also helping users experiencing more severe psychological distress engage with formal care.

Effects of access to the app on selected wellness and functioning behaviours

🆕Can AI-powered mental health apps meaningfully improve wellbeing? Today on VoxDev, Manuela Angelucci (UT-Austin Economics), Raissa Fabregas & Antonia Vazquez (Annenberg Institute) discuss evidence on an AI-powered mental health app in Mexico: https://ow.ly/MUwA50ZlqIZ

🆕 Why farmers struggle to adopt new agricultural technology in Africa 📢 Today on VoxDevTalks, Karen Macours (Paris School of Economics) & Rachid Laajaj (Universidad de los Andes) discuss why agricultural technology adoption takes years to get right: https://ow.ly/sFwa50Zlsvk

Traditional microcredit rarely transforms the economic lives of the poor in Bangladesh, but targeted product innovations – including flexible repayment schedules, enterprise-focused loans, and digital disbursement – show meaningful gains for borrowers. Read today's article to learn more:

🆕The future of microfinance in Bangladesh? Today on VoxDev, Nusrat Jahan (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development - BIGD) discuss evidence on traditional microcredit in Bangladesh: https://voxdev.org/topic/finance/future-microfinance-bangladesh

A field experiment in Colombia found that disclosing the identity-based criteria used to select students for a free training programme reduced enrolment, suggesting that how targeted invitations are framed shapes whether intended beneficiaries actually participate.

Public identity labels reduced registration and completion