@stefannippes.bsky.social
Development Economist, former ODI Fellow & World Bank, now GIZ
reflects the fact that average incomes have historically varied a great deal, increasing many times over in the span of decades, whereas inequality tends to be more stable."
From: assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/u...
From: assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/u...
assets.bii.co.uk
October 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
reflects the fact that average incomes have historically varied a great deal, increasing many times over in the span of decades, whereas inequality tends to be more stable."
From: assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/u...
From: assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/u...
“There is a new slogan in China among the private sector firms which is “to go out, if not they are going to die” (...)
“Now there is a new paradigm: “go out together”” (…) Chinese government does not want to see this happening too fast but there is no choice if the tariffs continue to be 50% plus”
“Now there is a new paradigm: “go out together”” (…) Chinese government does not want to see this happening too fast but there is no choice if the tariffs continue to be 50% plus”
August 8, 2025 at 1:10 PM
“There is a new slogan in China among the private sector firms which is “to go out, if not they are going to die” (...)
“Now there is a new paradigm: “go out together”” (…) Chinese government does not want to see this happening too fast but there is no choice if the tariffs continue to be 50% plus”
“Now there is a new paradigm: “go out together”” (…) Chinese government does not want to see this happening too fast but there is no choice if the tariffs continue to be 50% plus”
“Manufacturing firms are gradually leaving China. It’s hard to leave China because the production networks are so dense and developed in China so leaving" (...)
“very strong urge for Chinese companies to invest abroad”.
“very strong urge for Chinese companies to invest abroad”.
August 8, 2025 at 1:10 PM
“Manufacturing firms are gradually leaving China. It’s hard to leave China because the production networks are so dense and developed in China so leaving" (...)
“very strong urge for Chinese companies to invest abroad”.
“very strong urge for Chinese companies to invest abroad”.
(11/11) “So we move from farmers that were sharecroppers to farmers that are shareholders with ownership in an entity, which is a corporation doing business in agriculture, which enormously increases output and incomes for all of these small farmers without changing property rights.”
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(11/11) “So we move from farmers that were sharecroppers to farmers that are shareholders with ownership in an entity, which is a corporation doing business in agriculture, which enormously increases output and incomes for all of these small farmers without changing property rights.”
(10/11) Mark on an *intermediate solution*: “collective farming”: “ What goes on is that firms come in and contract with a whole set of farmers owning adjacent land to essentially take over the management of farms." Larger entity ->allows for mechanization and solves problem of absent labour markets
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(10/11) Mark on an *intermediate solution*: “collective farming”: “ What goes on is that firms come in and contract with a whole set of farmers owning adjacent land to essentially take over the management of farms." Larger entity ->allows for mechanization and solves problem of absent labour markets
(9/11) Mark: As to the “fundamental solution to the problem of [small scale] agriculture”: “What is very important for the productivity of agriculture, the production of food in the world is that there be industrialization in these countries." (so people will leave agriculture for other sectors)
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(9/11) Mark: As to the “fundamental solution to the problem of [small scale] agriculture”: “What is very important for the productivity of agriculture, the production of food in the world is that there be industrialization in these countries." (so people will leave agriculture for other sectors)
(8/11) "It's clearly true that putting resources into small scale farming will slow down departure of people from small scale farming but I think the benefits of alleviating poverty in the medium term make that a cost worth taking.”
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(8/11) "It's clearly true that putting resources into small scale farming will slow down departure of people from small scale farming but I think the benefits of alleviating poverty in the medium term make that a cost worth taking.”
(7/11) "Technological change, market improvement, infrastructure development that will make people better off in the medium run as we move through the process of transformation."
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(7/11) "Technological change, market improvement, infrastructure development that will make people better off in the medium run as we move through the process of transformation."
(6/11) Chris Udry: “Here I will disagree some with Mark: Moving to large scale farming and mechanization is what we need in the long-run. In the short run I think there are many inefficiencies in agriculture in Africa that can be alleviated short of this agglomeration. "
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(6/11) Chris Udry: “Here I will disagree some with Mark: Moving to large scale farming and mechanization is what we need in the long-run. In the short run I think there are many inefficiencies in agriculture in Africa that can be alleviated short of this agglomeration. "
(5/11) “A program that is constantly providing resources to small farmers is subsidizing it... it is cementing the world to be small agriculture. It’s a problem that we have literally billions of dollars of money that goes to encourage through subsidization small farming. It’s a policy problem.”
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(5/11) “A program that is constantly providing resources to small farmers is subsidizing it... it is cementing the world to be small agriculture. It’s a problem that we have literally billions of dollars of money that goes to encourage through subsidization small farming. It’s a policy problem.”
(4/11) all of whom know you will gain in productivity so there is a hold-up problem. (…) So the barriers are natural, it’s a trap to be small size that improving land rights are not going to solve." (...)
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(4/11) all of whom know you will gain in productivity so there is a hold-up problem. (…) So the barriers are natural, it’s a trap to be small size that improving land rights are not going to solve." (...)
(3/11) Mark: “So why don’t farms get bigger? (…) Marginal increase in scale will reduce productivity. It increases scale, so you need more labour, but because transaction costs are high, you can’t do it. To go from 2 acres to over 12 acres you need contractual relationships with 6 farmers
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(3/11) Mark: “So why don’t farms get bigger? (…) Marginal increase in scale will reduce productivity. It increases scale, so you need more labour, but because transaction costs are high, you can’t do it. To go from 2 acres to over 12 acres you need contractual relationships with 6 farmers
(2/11) Size difference is “fundamental reason for yield gap":
(1) Mechanization – “can’t do it on tiny farms. Economies of scale from mechanization are enormous”.
(2) Slack: Labour & land markets don’t work well. For small farms, cost of hiring labour is high relative to scale of operation -> slack
(1) Mechanization – “can’t do it on tiny farms. Economies of scale from mechanization are enormous”.
(2) Slack: Labour & land markets don’t work well. For small farms, cost of hiring labour is high relative to scale of operation -> slack
August 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
(2/11) Size difference is “fundamental reason for yield gap":
(1) Mechanization – “can’t do it on tiny farms. Economies of scale from mechanization are enormous”.
(2) Slack: Labour & land markets don’t work well. For small farms, cost of hiring labour is high relative to scale of operation -> slack
(1) Mechanization – “can’t do it on tiny farms. Economies of scale from mechanization are enormous”.
(2) Slack: Labour & land markets don’t work well. For small farms, cost of hiring labour is high relative to scale of operation -> slack
"In terms of dynamic consequences, the rise of China actually pulled the majority of countries down, with particularly large losses for a number of African countries who are pushed away from their most-complex sectors, which China exports, and into their least-complex sectors, which China imports"
August 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
"In terms of dynamic consequences, the rise of China actually pulled the majority of countries down, with particularly large losses for a number of African countries who are pushed away from their most-complex sectors, which China exports, and into their least-complex sectors, which China imports"
A recurrent theme of this earlier literature on the dynamic effects of trade … is that there are good sectors, with opportunities for learning, and bad sectors, without them. For countries with a static comparative advantage in the former sectors, free trade therefore slows down productivity growth
August 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
A recurrent theme of this earlier literature on the dynamic effects of trade … is that there are good sectors, with opportunities for learning, and bad sectors, without them. For countries with a static comparative advantage in the former sectors, free trade therefore slows down productivity growth
“(…) countries sit at different rungs of a ladder, each associated with a different set of economic activities a country can perform. As countries develop, they become more capable, move up the ladder, and start to produce and export more complex goods."
August 5, 2025 at 8:41 PM
“(…) countries sit at different rungs of a ladder, each associated with a different set of economic activities a country can perform. As countries develop, they become more capable, move up the ladder, and start to produce and export more complex goods."
(iv) Investment promotion works -> important tool for policymakers
voxdev.org/topic/firms/...
voxdev.org/topic/firms/...
Eight things policymakers should know about foreign direct investment
Policymakers in developing countries often clash over the impact of foreign direct investment, but what does the existing literature tell us?
voxdev.org
August 4, 2025 at 8:38 PM
(iv) Investment promotion works -> important tool for policymakers
voxdev.org/topic/firms/...
voxdev.org/topic/firms/...
(iii) continued: The presence of foreign affiliates boosts the exports of local producers through knowledge spillovers about export markets. (…) Often it is just a handful of firms, most frequently foreign multinationals, that fundamentally restructure sectorial export patterns.
August 4, 2025 at 8:38 PM
(iii) continued: The presence of foreign affiliates boosts the exports of local producers through knowledge spillovers about export markets. (…) Often it is just a handful of firms, most frequently foreign multinationals, that fundamentally restructure sectorial export patterns.
"As an aside, I do question whether our current faith in country platforms will turn out to be exaggerated in a world of increased fragmentation."
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
The End of Development Cooperation?
Remarks prepared for the opening address of the 2025 Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, “Development in the Age of Populism.”
www.cgdev.org
August 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"As an aside, I do question whether our current faith in country platforms will turn out to be exaggerated in a world of increased fragmentation."
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
www.cgdev.org/publication/...
You could also imagine IBRD-type windows taking on a bit more risk by expanding their lending in the less creditworthy...blend countries (...)
August 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
You could also imagine IBRD-type windows taking on a bit more risk by expanding their lending in the less creditworthy...blend countries (...)